Eatala Wins Huzurabad, Massive Blow for TRS

Sentiment and sympathy won over dole-outs in Huzurabad as BJP candidate Eatala Rajender won the high-stakes by-election over the ruling TRS.

Rajender won the seat for the seventh consecutive time by a 23,855-vote majority.

In all, Rajender polled 1,07,022 votes (51.96%), Gellu Srinivas Yadav of the TRS polled 83,167 votes (40.38%), and Balmoor Venkat Narsing Rao of the Congress polled an utterly humiliating 3,014 votes (1.46%).

The victory caps five months of aggressive, high-decibel campaigning in the constituency, and, as per reports, plenty of money being distributed to voters.

Celebrations were wide-spread. There was a festive atmosphere among the BJP cadre in the Huzurabad constituency, with sweets being ubiquitous and plenty of fire-cracker action. BJP celebrations in Hyderabad were raucous, too - several leaders and activists congregated to offer tributes at Gun Park (where the Telangana Martyr's Memorial is located) and revelled in the prestigious victory by distributing sweets generously. And there was plenty of articulate optimism all around that the victory was a sign that the BJP would win the 2023 Assembly elections.

The TRS camps were not nearly as elated. Given that the election outcome was positioned as a direct statement of KCR's sway in the state, and given the continuous campaigning by stalwarts including ministers T Harish Rao, Gangula Kamalakar and Koppula Eshwar, the outcome is being seen as a direct repudiation of KCR. Especially given the shockingly expensive Dalit Bandhu, and the reported Rs. 6,000 per vote that the party was allegedly doling out. So the question would be, what is the actual TRS pull without all of the dole?

TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav in fact polled lesser votes that Eatala in his own village and neighbouring villages, too. That appeared pretty telling.

Union minister G Kishan Reddy claimed that moral values had won over money bundles in the battle. While few would claim that the BJP did not do its own share of paying for votes, there perhaps are factors beyond money that influence the normally saleable Indian voter.