Andhra Pradesh   

Malreddy all the way

By R. Ravikanth Reddy

HYDERABAD, MAY 11. Just a few minutes after the counting started, the smile on his face reflected the outcome.

After a few rounds, his rival quietly left the place conceding defeat and it was time for celebrations for the Congress candidate in Malakpet, Malreddy Ranga Reddy, who won the seat with a handsome margin of 23,358 votes over his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rival, Manchireddy Kishan Reddy.

Interestingly, Mr. Ranga Reddy had won the seat in 1994 as the TDP candidate but had to surrender it to the BJP's N. Indrasena Reddy as a part of the TDP-BJP poll pact in 1999 elections. Right through the counting, he looked confidence personified even as his rival looked tense as each round passed. Mr. Reddy got good lead in the rural areas of the constituency as well as the urban centres, dominated by the middle-income group.

As the news spread his followers waiting outside the hall erupted in joy and they celebrated throwing gulal and bursting crackers. Slogans praising Mr. Reddy and Sonia Gandhi rent the air repeatedly. The large number of policemen could do nothing as the supporters jumped the barricades to congratulate him. Later, a rally was taken out from the counting hall to the Saibaba temple where offered prayers. "It was an expected win and I will not let down the people who put faith in me", Mr. Reddy told The Hindu after winning the seat. "The resounding victory for Congress is a clear signal of people's resentment against the Government, which lived on inflated publicity", he said.

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