Early trends show Congress leading on 15 seats while BRS on 9 in Telangana

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 3 (ANI): As the counting begins for 199 assembly seats in Telangana, initial trends as published by the Election Commission show Congress leading on 15 seats while the BRS is leading on 9 seats.
According to the Election Commission of India, Congress candidate Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy is leading from Medchal and Mynampally Rohith from Nalgonda.
P. Sudarshan Reddy is leading from Bodhan, Komatireddy Raj Gopal Redy from Munogode, Mandula Samel from Thungathurthi and Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu from Madhira is leading in the initial trends.
BRS candidate KP Vivekanand is leading from the Quthbullapu constituency and Chamakura Malla Reddy leading from Medchal. Palla Rajeshwar Reddy is leading from the Jangaon seat.
Prasanth Reddy Vemula is leading from the Balkonda seat and Vakiti Sunitha Laxma Reddy leading from Narsapur.
The Telangana election results will be important for the Congress as it heads into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A win in Karnataka and Telangana would further concrete its presence in the South.
BRS MP K. Keshava Rao congratulated the Congress for gaining an early lead in Telangana but said that the party is fighting a lone battle, but BJP and AIMIM are sure to support BRS in case of need.
"I will not get into the figures now because I would not undermine the surveys. You have your own studies, I have mine...As far as the surveys are concerned, you have given Congress a lead. But as per my studies, we have a comfortable majority to get into power...Congress is fighting a lone battle, they have no supporters. They have to get the seats all by themselves...But BJP and AIMIM are sure to support us in case of need," he said.
"We have to congratulate them. This is not a joke...They have done a great job. We are coming down; they have gone up. This has to be accepted because the figures will say. There is no question of hiding those things," he added.
Speaking on the trends, BRS MLC K Kavitha said that the party is very confident that we will win again with the blessings of the people of Telangana.
The fate of 2,290 candidates from 109 parties including the national and regional parties will be revealed as the counting proceeds. A clear picture of the result is likely to emerge by noon.
Incumber CM, K Chandrashekar Rao is contesting from two seats -- his original seat Gajwel and Kamareddy. While he is facing BJP leader Etela Rajender in Gajewal, Congress state unit chief Revanth Reddy is taking him on in Kamareddy.
Apart from squaring off with KCR, both Etela and Revanth Reddy are also contesting from two seats, with the BJP leader from Huzurabad and the Congress' best bet Reddy from Kodangal.Among the highly discussed seats is Korutla from where BJP has fielded Lok Sabha member Arvind Dharmapuri against Kalvakuntla Sanjay of BRS, and Narsinga Rao Juvvadi of Congress.
The Congress campaign in Telangana picked up momentum after Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra and the party's victory in assembly polls in neighbouring Karnataka.
One of the key BJP promises is to make a person from the Backward Class community a Chief Minister if the party gets support from the people of the state to form a government. The party has also reached out to various communities and the BJP-led government last week set in motion the process of setting up a committee that will go into the issue of sub-categorisation of the Madiga community within the Scheduled Castes. It has been a long-pending demand of the community.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders point out that the state's per capita income has seen a significant rise in the last 10 years due to efforts of the government and various welfare and development schemes will continue.
In 2018, BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) won 88 of the 119 seats and had a 47.4 per cent vote share. The Congress came a distant second with 19 seats. (ANI)