The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrashekar Rao's gamble to call for elections six months ahead of the schedule seem to have worked well for the party. The TRS is leading in over two-thirds of the 119 constituencies.
The Congress-led Praja Kutami (People’s Front), which includes the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samithi and the CPI, didn't garner much electoral support. The BJP is contesting sans alliance.
With inputs from our Telangana Bureau
Here are the live updates:
ECI's final figures at 1.33 am shows the TRS winning 88 seats followed by Congress (19) and BJP winning a single seat. Others won 11 seats.
ECI figures at 10.53 p.m. shows the TRS winning 87 seats followed by Congress (19) and BJP winning a single seat. Others were leading in 11 seats.
Click here for the latest tally
Massive wins for KT Rama Rao, Harish Rao
In Siddipet, T. Harish Rao (TRS) wins with a thumping victory margin of 1,18,699 votes, leaving Telangana Jana Samithi's Bhavani Marikanti a distant second.
In Sircilla, KT Rama Rao of TRS beats Karuna Mahender Reddy of INC with a massive margin of 89,000 votes. Mr. Rama Rao (son of ruling CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) is currently the Minister for Information Technology (IT), Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), Textiles and NRI Affairs.
TRS sitting MLA in Nakrekal (SC) Vemula Veeresham (85440) was defeated by INC's Chirumarthi Lingaiah (93699). After 21 rounds, he completed 8259 majority.
Four-time Congress MLA in Nalgonda Komatireddy Venkat Reddy (74543) was defeated by TRS first-timer K. Bhupal Reddy (97707).
In Choppadandi, Ravi Shankar Sunke (TRS) wins with a margin of 42,127 votes.
In Dharmapuri, Easwar Koppula (TRS) wins with a slender margin of 441 votes.
In Karimnagar, Gangula Kamalakar (TRS) wins with a margin of nearly 15,000 votes.
In Mulug, Anasuya Dansari (INC) wins.
In Parkal, Challa Dharma Reddy (TRS) beats INC's Konda Surakha with a margin of over 46,500 votes.
Congress wrests the Palair seat in Khammam district from the ruling TRS. Congress candidate K Upender Reddy trounces the TRS heavyweight and R&B Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao by a margin of 7669. CPI (M) candidate B Hymavathi finishes third (6769). None of the Above (NOTA) gets more votes (1267) than the BJP candidate K Sridhar Reddy (1167) in Palair constituency of Khammam district.
TRS Minister for Energy G. Jagadish Reddy retains Suryapet, fighting with INC's Ramreddy Damodar Reddy and BJP's Sankineni Venkateswara Rao. Wins by a majority of 8000 votes.
In Ramagundam, All India Forward Bloc's Chandar Patel wins with a margin of over 26,000 votes from the TRS candidate.
In Sanath Nagar, Srinivas Yadav (TRS) wins, Venkatesh Goud (TDP) second with a margin of over 30000 votes.
In Wanaparthy, S. Niranjan Reddy (TRS) beats Chinna Reddy Gillela of INC with a margin of 51,600 votes.
Rebel candidate K. Chander Patel snatches victory from TRS in Ramagundam
TRS rebel candidate Korukanti Chander Patel has won in Ramagundam by a margin of 26,419 votes. He received 61,400 votes against the 34,981 votes of TRS’ S. Satyanarayana.
Khammam incumbent MLA and the ruling TRS candidate Puvvada Ajay Kumar retains Khammam, trounces the Grand Alliance joint candidate Nama Nageswara Rao of the TDP by a margin of 10,991 votes. The NOTA (none of the above) option gets third highest votes (3513) relegating the BJP candidate to fourth place.
Strength of women MLAs to reduce
The strength of women in the Telangana Assembly after the 2018 elections is set to decline from that of nine in the dissolved Assembly. While the number of women candidates fielded by the major political parties was itself less, the outcome of the election saw many women candidates unsuccessful at the hustings.
Declaration of result for the Asifabad (ST) seat is being delayed owing to a dispute over the winning margin of Congress candidate Athram Sakku. He is leading by about 500 votes at the end of counting.
In Sanath Nagar, Talasani Srinivas Yadav of the TRS wins, defeating his TDP rival Kuna Venkatesh Goud.
TRS nominee Mohammed Shakeel Amer has retained the Bodhan seat, defeating former Minister P. Sudarshan Reddy by 8,662 votes. T. Jayaprakash Reddy has become the only Congress candidate to win from the erstwhile Medak district after defeating his nearest TRS rival Chinta Prabhakar by 2,005 votes in the Sanga Reddy seat. TRS sitting MLA in Aler, G. Suneetha Reddy, has won by a majority of 32,265 votes against INC's Budidha Bhukshamaiah Goud.
AIMIM set to retain its bastion
All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi wins from the Chandrayangutta constituency in Telangana for the fifth time in a row. He defeated his nearest BJP rival Syed Shehjadi by a margin of over 80,000 votes.
The AIMIM seemed poised to retain its traditional bastion of the Old City as it scored its first victory with Mohammed Moazzam Khan, its candidate from the Bahadurpura Assembly constituency, being declared elected.
Mumtaz Ahmed Khan is leading in Charminar.
The AIMIM, however, is being given stiff resistance in the Karwan Assembly segment, with the BJP in the lead in 9 round of counting. BJP candidate Amar Singh made a significant gain against his rival from the AIMIM and former legislator Kausar Mohiuddin as the former leads with 6,402 votes.
Key wins
AIMIM's Moazzam Khan has been re-elected from Bahadurpua in Hyderabad.
TRS Ramavath Ravindra Kumar Naik wins Devarakonda by a majority of 38, 473 votes including postal ballot. Runner up INC Balu Naik with 56225 votes.
Rathod Bapu Rao of the TRS wins from the Boath (ST) constituency by a margin of over 5500 votes
Koneru Konappa of the TRS wins the Sirpur constituency.
Congress candidate D Sridhar Babu has won from the Manthani segment by securing a lead of 15,391 votes.
Finance Minister Etala Rajender performed a double hat-trick by winning from the Huzurabad segment for the sixth time by securing a majority of43,401 votes.
AIMIM's Moazzam Khan wins from Bahadurpua.
Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy bags the Nirmal constituency
Four out of 15 ministers in the Cabinet are trailing, while others are poised to win. Here is how the various incumbent Ministers of the KCR Cabinet is faring so far
In Bodhan, TRS nominee Mohammed Shakeel Amer is leading by over 8,000 votes over his nearest rival P. Sudarshan Reddy of Congress after 8th round.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was with 45,902 by 16th round at Gajwel against Congress candidate V. Pratap Reddy.
In Armoor, Jeevan Reddy is leading by 20,500 votes after 10th round.
TDP staring at defeat
TDP candidate Sandra Venkata Veeraiah showing victory symbol as he is almost certain of victory in Sattupalli constituency.
The Telugu Desam Party leading by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu failed to garner much support in the newly formed Telugu-speaking State. Of the 13 constituency the party contested, it is leading in only two seats.
The party's Mecha Nageswara Rao is leading in Aswaraopeta, while Sandra Venkata Veeraiah is leading in Sathupalli.
The TDP had 15 MLAs in the recently dissolved Telangana Assembly.
Amid the gloom, Congress has three giant killers
Amid the gloomy results, the Congress party had something to cheer about as three of its first timers emerged victorious defeating TRS stalwarts including two Ministers.
Beeram Harshvardhan Reddy of the Congress defeated Panchayat Raj Minister Jupally Krishna Rao in Kollapur Assembly constituency.
In Khammam district, TRS heavyweight Roads and Buildings Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao suffered humiliating defeat in Palair constituency, when the Congress candidate K Upender Reddy won by a slender margin of 1920 votes.
Another giant killer was Jajala Surender of the Congress in Yellareddy constituency where he humbled three time TRS legislator Enugu Ravinder Reddy.
When IT Minister's prophecy came true
IT Minister in the caretaker government, K.T.Rama Rao, after casting his vote at a polling centre in Hyderabad on Friday.
It was an accidental meeting between IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao and his cousin and Irrigation Minister T.Harish Rao on the polling day on December 7 between Siddipet and Sircilla. Mr. Rama Rao had jocularly predicted that his 'bava' (brother-in-law) would win with a margin of one lakh. His prophecy came true today when the results were announced. Mr. Harish Rao not only improved the winning margin of 2014 but crossed the one lakh mark. He defeated the BJP candidate M.Raghunandan Rao by a margin of 1.19 lakh votes.
TRS heavyweight Tummala Nageswara Rao loses
TRS heavyweight and R&B Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao suffers defeat in Palair constituency, Congress candidate K Upender Reddy wins by a margin of 1920 votes. Another Minister Jupalli Krishna Rao is also staring at defeat.
But most ministers in Mr. Rao's cabinet have fared well.
Health Minister Dr. C. Laxma Reddy is leading in the Jadcherla constituency by around 25,000 votes over Congress candidate Dr. Mallu Ravi while the Housing and Law Minister Indrakaran Reddy is leading in Nirmal by around 10,000 votes over his Congress competitor Maheshwar Reddy. Finance Minister Etela Rajender has a strong lead of about 30,000 votes in Huzurabad.
The Capital leans towards TRS
The people of Hyderabad have overwhelmingly supported the TRS this time. The ruling party is leading in eight out 15 constituencies in the Hyderabad segement. The Old City remains the stronghold of AIMIM. The Majlis party is leading in five constituencies.
Nampally is the only constituency where Congress is leading.
The surprise however is by the BJP, which is leading in Karwan of Old City. Amar Singh of the BJP is ahead of AIMIM candidate Kausar Mohideen.
A win for Yellareddy's 'favourite' candidate
Residents of Errapahad village in Yellareddy assembly constituency presenting a cheque to Congress candidate Jajala Surender to fund his campaign.
J. Surender of Congress has won by a margin of 34,000 votes from Yellareddy defeating his nearest rival Eanugu Ravinder Reddy.
Mr. Surender is a longtime aspirant. Mr. Surender was one of the earliest leaders from Yellareddy constituency to work under the leadership of K. Chandrasekhar Rao when the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was formed. In 2004, he unsuccessfully contested as an Independent since the TRS preferred another candidate. He lost three elections back-to-back. This time he is a Congress candidate.
“Three successive defeats created a sort of sympathy among the constituents," a voter had told The Hindu . Mr. Surender's campaign gained the media limelight when people from the Yellareddy constituency began voluntarily offering money for his campaign.
Round-up
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (Gajwel), his son K T Rama Rao (Sircilla) and nephew T Harish Rao (Siddipet) have established handsome leads, as the party’s gamble to go in for early elections seems to be paying off.
Several of KCR’s cabinet colleagues are leading in their constituencies.
The Congress is ahead in only 16 segments, while the TDP is leading in just two.
The BJP, which had won five seats in 2014, is leading in two constituencies. Telangana BJP president K Laxman is trailing in Musheerabad.
The AIMIM that won seven seats in 2014 is leading in five.
In Jukkal Hanmanth Shinde retains the seat while in Yellareddy Congress's N. Surender wrests the seat from E. Ravinder Reddy of TRS.
In Devarakonda, the TRS candidate is leading with over 25,000 votes. TRS' Ramavath Ravindra Kumar Naik is the sitting MLA
In Tandur, Congress candidate Rohith Reddy is leading by a slender margin of just seven votes. TRS candidate Patnam Mahender Reddy is close behind.
Just a day before voting, Mr. Rohith Reddy had approached police alleging that a group of 40-50 unidentified persons, reportedly TRS supporters, made a vain bid to attack him at a guest house in Inderched village of Basheerabad mandal in Vikarabad district.
TRS candidate Prem Singh Rathore is leading in Goshamahal. It is in this constituency, a transperson is contesting for the first time ever. However, she has failed to garner much votes.
Congress headquarters in Hyderabad, Gandhi Bhavan, wears a deserted look on Tuesday.
In Kodangal, one of Congress' prospective CM candidates Revanth Reddy is trailing by about 7000 votes. TRS candidate Narender Reddy is in the lead with over 27,000 votes.
The Congress-led People's Front has clearly not made a mark in the electoral politics. The party managed to garner only 28 per cent of vote share.
Minister for Finance Etala Rajender leading by 11,000 votes in Huzurabad segment after seventh round while the Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy is leading by 4636 votes after round five.
T. Padma Rao from TRS leading in Secunderabad over nearest rival Kasani Gnaneshwar from Congress by over 12,000 votes. Similarly TRS candidate Ravindrakumar Naik gains lead over his Congress rival Balu Naik.
Similarly, TRS is in lead in seven out of nine constituencies in old Nizamabad district while in Bodhan and Yellareddy Congress is in lead.
Bad news for CPIM as their leader J Ranga Reddy, twice MLA from Miryalaguda, trails with a paltry 575 votes. TRS's N. Bhaskar Rao is leading with Congress' R Krishnaiah in pursuit.
In Ramagundam, TRS rebel candidate Korukanti Chander, who is contesting as an independent candidate, is leading against TRS nominee S. Satyanarayana by 1200 votes.
The constituency was in news in the days leading to the election for open resentment by prominent party members against the allocation of party ticket to the sitting legislator Somarapu Satyanarayana. K. Chander, along with former Mayor Konkati Laxminarayana, former Deputy Mayor Saganti Shankar, Ramagundam ZPTC member Sandhya Rani and others, had opposed the move and even vowed to defeat Satyanarayana. Adding their weight, many supporters of the group had made suicide bids as well.
Here is an inside account of how the counting of votes happens in the counting centre.
The first result is out. TRS candidate Dr. M. Sampath Kumar has been declared winner of the Jagtial Assembly election.
Our victory was never in doubt, says KCR daughter Kavitha
Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha waving at her supporters during a road show in Jagtial district on Wednesday. By Arrangement
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha said on Tuesday that there was never a doubt that the party will retain power with a huge majority.
Ms. Kavitha, a member of the Lok Sabha, said there was no anti-incumbency as the TRS government had done well on all fronts during the last four-and-a-half years.
The TRS leader said the so-called tough fight between the TRS and Congress-led People’s Front was showcased only on paper. She told a news channel that Telangana had voted for development.
Postal ballots being counted at a counting station in Warangal on Tuesday.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Chief and Huzurnagar nominee Uttam Kumar Reddy has been leading all rounds till now. At the end of 3rd round he’s stronger by 1852 votes.
Congress incumbent MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka trailing by 545 votes in Madhira constituency after second round, TRS candidate L Kamal Raj leading over the Congress heavyweight.
In Nizamabad rural, TRS is in lead by 1820 votes, while Sangareddy Congress candidate T. Jayaprakash Reddy leading by 1942 against TRS candidate Ch. Prabhakar.
In Bodhan P. Sudarshan Reddy is in lead by 1712 votes after the second round. TRS is consistently strong in Bhongir, Aler, Devarakonda, Miryalaguda.
Chandrayangutta continues to be AIMIM's turf
Akbaruddin Owaisi
After the sixth round of counting in Chandrayangutta, Akbaruddin Owaisi has polled over 32,000 votes. His nearest rival — BJP's Shahjadi Sayyad — got over 4,000 votes. Congress candidate Esa Misri has polled over 2,200 votes.
Chandrayangutta is the AIMIM's stronghold. Akbaruddin Owaisi, the younger brother of party chief Asaduddin, has represented the seat five times. This will be his fifth consecutive term, if he wins.
Remember the war of words between the elder Owaisi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on "son of the soil"? It happened with reference to Chandrayangutta. Mr. Adityanath had said the Owaisis will flee "like how the Nizams fleed the State", to which the brothers shot back it is their "father's land" and they are here to stay.
Who is Harish Rao?
T Harish Rao
T. Harish Rao, the incumbent Cabinet Minister for Irrigation, Marketing & Legislative Affairs of Telangana, is leading from the Siddipet constituency.
A five-time MLA, Mr. Rao is a the nephew of current CM K.Chandrashekar Rao. He has been in politics for over 14 years, starting his career as a youth leader for the party. He played a key role in stressing for statehood for Telangana and had previously resigned from the cabinet, protesting that Congress is holding out oin its promise of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.
He has been holding fort at Siddipet continuously for the past five elections - October 2004 by polls, 2008 by polls, 2009 elections, 2010 bypolls and 2014 election.
He is considered to be one of the four pillars holding up TRS, but in the previous months, there have been rumours that his role in the party is being overtaken by CM's son and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao in both government and party affairs.
TRS leader and Telangana minister K T Rama Rao is leading in Sircilla assembly segment by 15,096 votes after third round.
Rao, son of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, secured 20,471 votes, while his Congress rival KK Mahender Reddy got 5,375 votes.
TRS certain of winning Jagtial
Jagtial has been a traditional stronghold of Congress. Even when the TRS made an impressive show in 2014, Jagtial remained with the Congress. This time, however, M.Sanjay Kumar of TRS is all set to wrest the seat from Jeevan Reddy of Congress.
Screen grab of Telangana elections 2018 vote share as on 9:21 am from Election Commission's website.
The Telangana Rashtriya Samiti has polled over 50 per cent of the total votes polled. The Congress comes a distant second with 21 per cent votes.
Gampa Govardhan.
In Kamareddy, TRS's incumbent Gampa Govardhan is leading over Congress' Muslim face Mohd Ali Shabbir. Govardhan won by over 14,000 votes. Previously in 2009 elections, he was elected from the same constituency on the TDP ticket.
Congress candidate T. Jayaprakash Reddy leading by 600 by third round at Sangareddy against TRS candidate Ch. Prabhakar
Jalala Surendar of Congress is leading in Yellareddy. The party is also leading in Nirmal.
Trends change in Bahadurpura. AIMIM's Mohamed Moazam Khan is leading by a margin of 2317 votes.
The AIMIM is contesting only in eight seats this time. The party's chief had appealed to his supporters to vote for the TRS in the constituencies where AIMIM is not contesting. But curiously, TRS is contesting in Bahadurpura.
All the three senior leaders of Congress party C. Damodar Rajanarasimha, J. Geeta Reddy and V. Sunitha Lakshma Reddy are trailing at Andol, Zaheerabad and Narsapur respectively.
The erstwhile Medak district also appears to be favouring the TRS. In all the 10 seats, including that of Chief Minister Mr Rao, the TRS is leading.
TRS candidate Tellam Venkat Rao leading over Congress candidate Podiam Veeraiah by 617 votes after first round in ST reserved Bhadrachalam constituency in Telangana's tribal heartland.
None of the Above (NOTA) option gets 151 votes in Bellampally (SC), 161 in Boath (ST) and 130 in Asifabad (ST) after the first round.
TRS president and Telangana Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao leading by 2,861 votes over his nearest Congress rival Vanteru Pratap Reddy in Gajwel seat after first round. - PTI
Counting begins at a slow pace at Vijaya engineering college, the designated counting centre for five constituencies in Khammam district.
TDP's candidate from Sattupalli constituency S Venkata Veeraiah leads by a slender margin of around 1200 votes as per initial trends of counting.
Secunderabad Cantonment (SC) Assembly Constituency counting Hall at Wesley college, on Tuesday.
In Kukatpally, TRS's incumbent MLA M. Krishna Rao is leading over TDP's Nandamuri Suhasini, daughter of N. Harikrishna. It is expected that the main contest would be between the TRS and the TDP although BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party too are in the fray this time.
In Jagtial, the contest is once again between Congress' Jeevan Reddy and TRS's M. Sanjay Kumar. Incumbent Mr. Reddy is trailing to Mr. Kumar by over 6000 votes
Early trends show the TRS is leading in a few constituencies.
In Nirmal district's Mundhole, the TRS is leading by over 1100 votes. In Warangal West, TRS candidate D Vinay Bhaskar is leading. The party is also leading in Jagtial, Koratla, Kukatpaly and Husnabad.
In all the five districts of Nalgonda, TRS is leading.
In Bahadurpura, BJP's Haneef Ali is leading over TRS's Mir Inayath Ali Baqri by a margin of 376 votes. Bahadurpura seat in Hyderabad was created in 2009. Mohammad Moazam Khan of AIMIM is the sitting candidate.
TRS' Harish Rao leads
Early trends are arriving. At the end of first round, T. Harish Rao of TRS is leading in Siddipet. Mr. Rao is the Irrigation Minister in the Chandrashekhara Rao government. This is the sixth time he is contesting in this constituency. If he wins today, it will be a double hat-trick for Mr. Rao.
Of the 119 constituencies, 18 constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates and nine constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes candidates. These 27 seats could be the decider of the election results.
In fact, the Telangana Congress came up with a 'Mission 31' plan last year to capture these seats.
People’s Front leaders seek first chance, if it’s hung
Show of strength: People’s Front leaders after meeting Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan in Hyderabad.
A day before the counting of votes, People’s Front leaders, led by TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, met Governor E.S.L. Narsimhan and sought the first chance in the event of the results throwing up hung Assembly.
The significant development came even as the MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had wide-ranging consultations with the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Pragati Bhavan triggering speculation that the former will extend support to the TRS, if there is fractured mandate.
Counting of votes simultaneously begins in 44 centres across the State.
Counting procedure
Polling officials enter counting station at Vijaya Engineering College in Khammam district on Tuesday.
Counting process will start with the counting of the postal ballots numbering 44,258 given to the employees and little over 10,000 ballot papers issued to service voters. Opening of the electronic voting machines will commence subsequently. The election authority has fixed 44 centres including 13 in Hyderabad for counting of the votes which will decide the fate of 1,821 candidates in the fray.
Each counting centre will have 14 tables in addition to one for the returning officer and an estimated 2,379 rounds of counting is likely to be held.
Once the counting was completed in all respects, the returning officer concerned would announce the results after obtaining the permission of the observer deputed by the Election Commission.
Stage set for counting of votes
Police deployed at Pragathi Bhavan, which houses the Telangana CM Office, in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The stage is all set for the commencement of counting of votes for the 119 constituencies in the State which went to polls in a single phase on Tuesday. The high stake election has witnessed huge response from the people with 73.2% of the total 2.8 crore voters exercising their franchise.
