The Congress flag.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Hyderabad: Congress was surging ahead of the ruling BRS in Telangana, leading in 67 seats as counting of votes was under way across the state on Sunday.
With 119 seats up for grabs, the gap between the national party and the BRS was widening as the latter was leading only in 36 segments, even as party supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was trailing in one of the two seats he had contested from.
BJP and AIMIM were leading in 8 and 3 seats, respectively. The CPI was also leading in the lone segment that it was contesting from, the latest Election Commission of India update showed.
While the BRS has 101 members in the outgoing Assembly, AIMIM has 7, Congress 5, BJP 3. The All-India Forward Bloc has one legislator.
There is one independent while there is one vacancy.
In Gajwel assembly segment, the CM was ahead of BJP's E Rajender by 3020 votes after the second round of counting while he was trailing behind TPCC chief Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy by 2133 votes after five rounds.
Reddy was leading in Kodangal too. He was ahead by 2513 votes against his nearest BRS rival P Narender Reddy after the second round.
Telangana Speaker P Srinivas Reddy was leading by 5255 votes over Congress' Ravinder Reddy.
Former BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar was trailing behind his nearest BRS rival and minister Gangula Kamalakar by 1145 votes after the first round.
BJP candidate Raja Singh, known for his strong pro-Hindutva opinions, was ahead of BRS candidate Nand Kishore Vyas in Goshamahal constituency by 2891 votes after two rounds pf counting.
Cricketer and Congress pick Mohammed Azharuddin was trailing behind BRS' Mahanti Gopinath in Jubilee Hills segment in the city by 306 votes after the first round.
The simple majority mark to form government in the southern state is 60 seats.
The Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) has been in power since 2014, when Telangana was granted statehood and won the 2018 elections as well and was hopeful of a hattrick.
The Congress had mounted a spirited election campaign with a view to unseat the near decade-old incumbent, even as the BJP also launched a no holds-barred attack against the ruling dispensation.