Hyderabad, March 5 (IANS) In a setback to the ruling Congress party in Telangana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar graduates’ segment.

BJP candidate Chinnamail Anji Reddy emerged the winner by over 5,000 votes over his nearest competitor V. Narender Reddy of the Congress party during the counting of second preference votes.

At the end of the counting, Anji Reddy polled 97,880 votes. Narender Reddy finished second while Prasanna Harikrishna of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was in third place.

Out of 56 candidates, 53 were already eliminated in the second preference round.

The counting of second-preference votes was taken up after no winner emerged in the first-preference votes.

The MLC election was held on February 27 in the preferential voting system through ballot papers.

The seat was held by senior Congress leader and former minister T. Jeevan Reddy.

Due to the big size of the ballot paper, it took more than a day for the counting staff to sort the votes. A large number of invalid votes also delayed the process of counting.

Out of 2,52,100 votes (including postal ballots) polled, about 28,000 were declared invalid.

A total of 2,50,106 voters cast their ballots in the Graduates’ MLC polls on February 27, sealing the fate of 56 candidates.

BJP won two out of three MLC seats for which elections were held on February 27.

BJP-backed candidate Malka Komaraiah won the election from Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar teachers’ constituency.

He won the seat with a margin of more than 5,700 first preference votes against his nearest rival Vanga Mahender Reddy of the PRTU (TS).

PRTU (TS) bagged the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda seat. It's candidate P. Sripal Reddy emerged winner in second-preference votes. He secured 13,969 votes. Sitting MLC Narsi Reddy of UTF finished second.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Coal and Mines and state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy has congratulated Anji Reddy on winning Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar graduates’ seat.

He said that the youth of Telangana have reposed their trust in the developmental politics of BJP and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is yet another testament to the growing popularity of BJP in Telangana, he said.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar celebrated BJP’s victory in Karimnagar. He remarked that the Congress government’s countdown has started. He claimed that people of Telangana want a change and they are looking towards BJP.

Bandi Sanjay said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and others have been expressing doubts about EVMs but the BJP has won the elections held through ballot papers.