The counting for the assembly bypoll held in Dubbaka in Telangana has begun at the Indore Engineering College in Siddipet.
The seat has become the centre of a high-stakes battle for the last three months, bustling with activity for a prestigious triangular contest in the otherwise ordinary constituency.
Officials have made arrangements for the counting of votes with Covid-19 precautionary measures.
The counting began in two halls 14 tables were set up for the counting, which will be done in 23 rounds.
Dubbaka has become electorally significant, not because of itself, but because of what surrounds it. It shares its borders with Gajwel, represented by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
To its north is Sircilla- the constituency of CM's son and IT Minister KT Rama Rao, and to its east is Siddipet, the stronghold of CM's nephew Harish Rao.
The campaign for the bypoll, necessitated by the untimely death of MLA Ramalinga Reddy, was high-pitched as the BJP went all guns blazing after the TRS to establish itself as the main rival, and the TRS returned fire.
Not to be left behind, the Congress, too, put up a united front, keen not to lose its position as the key opposition party in the state.
By the time, the campaign drew to a close on Sunday, it had reached a fever pitch, suggestive of the importance attached to the constituency by all three contenders.
Live Updates
BJP wrests Dubbak assembly seat from ruling TRS in the by-elections with an overall majority of 1,754 votes.
BJP back in the race, by gaining a majority of 438 votes in 22nd round. Records an overall lead of 1068 votes. Just one round is left
At the end of 21st round, BJP is leading by 620 votes over TRS
BJP back in fight by regaining a lead of 491 votes over TRS at the end of 20th round; Overall lead of BJP is 240 votes
Dubbak heading for a photo finish: At the end of 19th round, TRS increases its lead to 425 voters over BJP
Five more rounds are left
Flash: TRS gains lead of 176 votes on BJP in Dubbak. First time, TRS gains majority
Revised 17th round: BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao is leading by margin of just 862 votes over TRS candidate
TRS continues its lead in Dubbak. In 17th round, TRS gets around 800 votes lead over the BJP, as a result of which the overall lead of BJP comes down to around 970
TRS bouncing back in Dubbak. In the fourth consecutive rounds, TRS picked up fast. In the 16th round, TRS gains a lead of 749 votes over the BJP. The lead of the BJP comes down to 1,733 votes.
TRS gains a lead of 955 votes in 15th round over the BJP in Dubbak. The lead of the BJP comes down to 2483 votes at the end of 15th round.
Dubbak bypoll: TRS gets a lead of 456 votes in 10th round. BJP is still leading with a margin of 3,734 votes
BJP continues its lead in #DubbakaBypolls. Gains a lead of 1084 votes in the ninth round. Overall lead of the BJP at the end of ninth round is 4190 votes over TRS
Revised eighth round: BJP bounces back in eighth round with 621 votes. Overall lead of the BJP at the end of eighth round is 3106 votes
TRS continues the lead in Dubbak. Gets another 200 lead in eighth round. BJP's lead comes down to around 2,000 votes at the end of eighth round
TRS gets slight edge over BJP in the sixth round of Dubbak bypoll -- gets 353 votes majority over BJP. Yet, BJP is still leading over TRS by a margin of 2667 votes at the end of sixth round
At the end of sixth round: BJP- 20226, TRS - 17559 and Cong 3254 votes
At the end of fifth round in Dubbak bypolls, BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao leads over TRS candidate S Sujatha by a margin of 3020 votes
At the end of fourth round in Dubbak bypolls, BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao leads over TRS candidate S Sujatha by a margin of 2684 votes
At the end of third round in Dubbak bypolls, BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao leads over TRS candidate S Sujatha by a margin of 1885 votes
Total lead of BJP in Dubbak at the end of second round is 1135 votes
At the end of second round: BJP - 6, 492 votes ; TRS - 5,357 votes and Congress -1,315 votes
In the second round, BJP gets 1561 votes and TRS gets 1282 votes. Total lead of BJP in Dubbak bypolls goes up to 620.
BJP gains lead in the second round, too. Its candidate M Raghunandan Rao gets 279 votes lead over TRS candidate S Sujatha in the second round.
BJP's @rammadhavbjp says that seeing BJP's lead against TRS in the Dubbaka Assembly bypoll, Telangana, it is likely to be a 'a surprise victory for BJP'.
In all, 7446 votes were counted in the first round.
BJP candidate gets 3208 votes, whereas TRS candidate gets 2867 votes in the first round. Congress in third position with 648 votes.
BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao gains a lead of 341 votes over Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate Solipeta Sujatha in the first round of counting of votes in Dubbak bypolls.
