Balakrishna scores a hat-trick win but with dented victory margin

Nandamuri Balakrishna wins Hindupur MLA seat with reduced margin, while Roja faces defeat in Nagari Assembly constituency.

Film actor and MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna scored a hat-trick in the Hindupur Assembly constituency of Sri Sathya Sai district on June 4 (Tuesday), although with a dented margin this time. He won by 31,602 votes against YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) candidate T.N. Deepika.

Mr. Balakrishna has been winning since 2014 in Hindupur, which has been a stronghold of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) since his father, N.T. Rama Rao founded the party and made his debut contest here in 1982.

The actor won with a majority of 81,543 votes in 2014 and in 2019, he registered an overwhelming victory with a majority of 91,704 votes, despite the so-called ‘Jagan wave’. However, the TDP cadre expressed dissatisfaction over the victory margin slipping by two-thirds this time.

Roja defeated in Nagari

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister R.K. Roja faced a humiliating defeat in the Nagari Assembly constituency of Chittoor district. Gali Bhanu Prakash, the son of veteran TDP leader Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, defeated her by a huge margin of over 40,000 votes. In 2019, she won the seat with a thin margin of a couple of thousand votes.

Ms. Roja, who remained at the counting centre when the vote counting progressed, suddenly left the venue after the second round with her rival posting the victory margin. She was facing serious allegations of land grabbing and corruption charges in the constituency.