Kamareddy witnessed a high-profile battle on Sunday, December 3, with BJP’s Venkata Ramana Reddy emerging as a slayer of two giants – Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Congress’ CM aspirant Revanth Reddy. Venkata Ramana won by a margin of 6,741 votes on Sunday, December 3. He received a total of 66,652 votes while CM KCR secured 59,911 votes. Revanth Reddy finished third in this battle with 54,916 votes.
While it was Revanth who was leading in the first few rounds, the margin of votes between him, Venkata Ramana, and KCR thinned as the rounds progressed. In the 13th round, Venkata Ramana took the lead, pushing KCR and Revanth to second and third spot respectively.
It appears that what worked for BJP’s Venkata Ramana, a former chairman of the Nizamabad zilla parishad, was the fact that he is a son of the soil. Both Revanth and KCR were seen as ‘outsiders’ by voters, despite being high-profile candidates. With Revanth and KCR also contesting from other constituencies, Kodangal and Gajwel respectively, Venkata Ramana was quick to point out in interviews that they would in all likelihood vacate the Kamareddy seat if they also won the traditional seats.
Venkata Ramana’s campaign also received a boost just days before polling with Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning for him in Kamareddy on November 25. Speaking to the media after gaining a lead, Venkata Ramana Reddy said he was confident about his win from the beginning. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting also impacted voters significantly.
Even as all eyes were on KCR and Revanth, the BJP leader had been exuding confidence about his victory from Kamareddy throughout his campaign. He told the media on November 30, polling day, that he was looking at KCR and Revanth as just BRS and Congress candidates, and nothing more. “They are big people, but I don’t fear them and I won’t back away. A candidate is simply a candidate for me. Forty years ago, KCR was no one. He became a CM after a journey of several years. It was because their time was right that they became leaders. They are not geniuses. I am 101% sure I would win,” he said.
Both KCR and Revanth Reddy were elected from their home constituencies of Gajwel and Kodangal, respectively. While KCR was elected from Gajwel for a third consecutive term, Revanth Reddy emerged victorious in Kodangal. He had suffered a defeat in this constituency in 2018.
In August, when BRS released its preliminary list of candidates, KCR had surprised everyone by announcing that he would contest in both Gajwel and Kamareddy. Sources told TNM that KCR’s decision to contest from Kamareddy was a calculated move to sway the electorate in the northern districts, where the BRS was expecting a tough challenge.
It was the Congress high command’s decision to make Revanth contest from Kamareddy, as the Telangana Congress chief has reiterated several times. But Revanth appeared confident from the get-go, considering the Congress has a sizeable number of supporters in the constituency.
During his campaign, Revanth had alleged that KCR contested from Kamareddy with the intention to encroach fertile lands.
KCR, on the other hand, maintained that there is “nothing special” in his decision to contest from Kamareddy, saying, “Our MLA (incumbent BRS MLA Gampa Govardhan) personally requested me to contest from there. Other Ministers and MLAs also asked me to contest from their districts but I chose to contest from Kamareddy.”