Celebrations broke out in the BJP camp in Telangana on Tuesday as the party claimed victory in the by-election to Dubbak Assembly seat.
Though the Election Commission is yet to officially announce the result due to a technical glitch in four electronic voting machines, the BJP state headquarters in Hyderabad saw wild celebrations.
The party workers burst firecrackers, distributed sweets and danced in gay abandon to celebrate the victory in the bitterly contested bypolls.
Some overjoyed party leaders lifted state party chief Bandi Sanjay in their arms amid the beating of drums.
BJP leaders claimed that party candidate M Raghunandan Rao defeated his nearest rival S Sujatha of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) by over 1,000 votes.
Though all 23 rounds of the counting were completed, the declaration of result was delayed due to glitch in four EVMs, which have 1,669 votes.
Sanjay told reporters at the BJP office that the people of Dubbak have delivered a historic verdict. "They have taught a lesson to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his arrogance," he claimed.
The MP from Karimnagar said that the TRS failed in all its conspiracies against the BJP during Dubbak campaign. Sanjay also referred to the self-immolation of BJP worker in front of the party office over his arrest in Dubbak.
"The verdict shows people want a change. The BJP will build on this success to win the coming electoral battles," he said.
If BJP candidate is declared elected in Dubbak, the saffron party's strength in 119-member Assembly will go up to two.
