This is a memorable victory and I will never forget it in my life: Eatala

Mr. Rajender said the by-election was held between dharma and dictatorship but the people of Huzurabad Assembly stood on the side of dharma and ensured his victory.Even though the TRS allegedly spent crores of rupees and supplied loads of liquor, the people gave mandate in his favour.

"This is a memorable victory and I will never forget it in my life," he said, adding, "I'm not backstabbing the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi but they backstabbed me and ousted me from the party." He said TRS should be ashamed of it.

After he was ousted from the party, it was the BJP that gave him a helping hand and extended all help to ensure his victory, the MLA said and thanked Union Home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P Nadda. He also thanked the social media workers who had worked hard for his win in the by-election. Mr. Rajender assured that he would strive hard to fulfill all the poll promises made to the people by mounting pressure on the state government.

TRS-turned-BJP senior leader Eatala Rajender spearheaded the race and won the high octane Huzurabad by-polls with a majority of 24,068 votes. This marks his seventh win as an MLA from his home turf and his first on a BJP ticket.

What led to Eatala's win?

Sympathy, defiance, and stronghold in the constituency worked in Eatala's favour. Speaking to NewsMeter, election observer Mohan Guruswamy said, "Eatala was victimized and his supporters were hurt about how badly he was treated. Corruption can't be an issue in the KCR government. It is Eatala's personal win but for the BJP to claim. To recall, BJP lost its deposit in Nagarjuna Sagar by-polls. While Congress in the big fight kept it low key. TPCC president and parliamentarian A. Revanth Reddy knew that Congress would not win so he put up a weak link. Can't complain about the Congress. People knew that voting for the Congress would be a waste in Huzurabad. In the election between Eatala vs KCR, Eatala won."

The Huzurabad by-polls strike a similarity with that of Dubbaka: in both cases TRS leaders Eatala Rajender and M. Raghunandhan Rao walked out of the pink party, faced an election, and won the break-neck battle. Eatala was already a sitting MLA when he resigned but Raghunandhan was not. He had contested twice but lost. However, the by-polls brought him luck.

To recall, Eatala Rajender recorded a straight win in six elections. He was first elected as an MLA in 2014, won the by-polls in 2007, general elections in 2009, 2014, 2018, and now another by-poll in 2021.