The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Congress loses in Asifnagar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Congress loses in Asifnagar

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 16. The Congress candidate, D. Nagender, lost to Moazam Khan of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in the Asifnagar byelection in Hyderabad by 2110 votes.

In the Siddipet constituency byelection in Medak district, the party's ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, retained the seat with its candidate, the Youth Services Minister, T. Harish Rao, trouncing the Telugu Desam candidate, Cheruku Muthyam Reddy, by a margin of 24,827 votes.

Mr. Nagender's defeat may cause embarrassment to the ruling party and provide ammunition to his detractors.

`Internal sabotage'

Mr. Nagender feels his defeat is not because he switched sides but owing to `internal sabotage'. He said he had already complained to the high command on how some of the party's city legislators worked vigorously against him in three municipal divisions leading to a loss of 6000 votes.

Majlis strength up

It was a hard-earned success for the Majlis as it got back Asifnagar after a decade-long drought, taking its strength in the Assembly to five.

An elated Asaddudin Owaisi said the verdict was clearly against Mr. Nagender's brand of politics and the policies pursued by Dr. Reddy's Government during the last four months.

Election laws need to be amended to prevent such candidates from forcing elections and even recover the costs.

The victory of Mr. Harish Rao was on expected lines but there was a definite dent in TRS votes. In the recent elections, his uncle, the Union Minister, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, won by a margin of 44,658 votes, which means it has come down by half now. "It is a victory for the three crore people of Telangana and it once again shows what they want," he said.

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