Hyderabad, Nov 24 (IANS): The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is all set to retain Warangal Lok Sabha seat as its candidate has taken an unassailable lead.
Pasunuri Dayakar of the TRS was ahead by a majority of over 2.70 lakh votes at the end of 11 rounds of counting.
The candidates of two other major contenders, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were trailing far behind at the second and third place, respectively.
Dayakar took a lead from the first round, consolidating it over the next two rounds in all seven assembly segments. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and the final result is expected by 2 p.m.
Celebrations broke out in the TRS camp across the state. Party workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets at Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters here.
"A big thanks to Warangal. You've inspired us to work more and better," tweeted K.T. Rama Rao, state minister and son of Chief Minister and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
A total of 23 candidates were in the fray. The Congress had fielded former central minister Sarve Satyanarayana.
About 69 percent of 15 lakh voters cast their votes in Saturday's bye-election, necessitated by the resignation of Kadiam Srihari after he was made deputy chief minister of the state.
In the 2014 elections, Srihari had won by a massive majority of 3.92 lakh votes.