The outcome of Narayankhed assembly byelection is more a matter of celebration for Congress, the loser, rather than the victor- the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Because, after two humiliating defeats in Warangal and GHMC, where party candidates forfeited deposit, in Narayankhed byelection, Congress, though stood second, secured deposit by polling honorable per centage of votes. The ruling TRS candidate Bhupal Reddy won by a margin of 53,635 votes- but it not huge compared to the campaign hype the TRS created in the run up to the election. While TRS candidate polled 93,074 votes, Congress got 39, 451 votes, reasonably good for the opposition party. The TDP, ended up as a poor third with 14,787 votes- a miserable performance. This is clearly an indication to the fact that the people of Telangana seems to have taken the TRS president KCR’s oft repeated refrain that TDP, which is an Andhra Prarty, had no place in Telangana. Of the 14 rounds, the TDP stood second in only one. The ruling party’s win definitely is not a feather in the cap of irrigation minister Harish Rao, who spearheaded the campaign single-handed for over a month. Compared to GHMC elections, lead by K Taraka Ramarao, his brother in law and son of KCR, Narayankhed did not decimate the opposition Congress. The opposition party had not only secured the deposits, it also won considerable percentage of votes and the party can build on this stating that TRS is losing ground in Rural Telangana.

Given the money spent on Narayankhed constituency developmental works before the election notification issued and sops offered to the people, win is not commensurate to the hype. Congress can take heart- it can recoup itself as there is enough time for the next general election. A wake up call to TRS?