WARANGAL: While the increase in voter turnout in the erstwhile Warangal district would have delighted those who believe in the democratic process, it has made it difficult to predict the results, raising tension among the candidates of various political parties.
According to official statistics, the district witnessed has 12 per cent increase in the voter turnout in Friday’s Assembly elections. And though the prevailing trends indicate to TRS winning four to six of the 12 constituencies in the district and the rest going to People’s Front, due to increase in voting percentage even the experienced analysts and seasoned politicians are hesitant to make correct predictions.
The reason, according to them, is the ‘silent’ voters who never reveal their preferences. All constituencies, with the exception of Warangal West, registered fairly good percentage of voting. While Warangal West recorded just 58.29 per cent, Wardhanapet witnessed 83.37 per cent and Warangal East 72.53 per cent. So how does the increase in voting percentage affect the prospects of candidates? For instance, in Jangaon constituency, which recorded 86.09 per cent voting, the main contest was between TRS candidate Muthireddy Yadgiri Reddy and senior Congress leader Ponnala Lakshmaiah. At the end of polling, it was predicted that Yadgiri Reddy will have an edge over his rival.
But after the polling percentage was announced, the political observers think Lakshmaiah in an advantageous position. It is learnt that people of few mandals of Jangaon, which were merged with Siddipet but continue to be part of Jangaon constituency, were very angry with the decision of TRS government and reportedly voted for the Congress candidate. Hence it is being believed now that Lakshmaiah may be in an advantageous position.
Anti-incumbency wave in Nizamabad?
“General perception suggests that an increase in polling percentage indicates an anti-incumbency wave,” says senior Congress leader P Sudharshan Reddy. If this is true, the voter turnout across Nizamabad’s constituencies is spelling trouble for TRS. In the elections, all of district’s constituencies except for Armoor witnessed a rise in number of denizens who cast their votes.
However, which candidate is benefitting from this increase seems to be the question. Both TRS and Congress leaders are busy reassessing their winning prospects on the basis of current ground reports. TRS leadership claims to be confident of their victory in all nine Assembly seats in the district. “The rise in number of voters only means one thing. The Congress is going to win in all the seats in the district,” says Reddy. Meanwhile, a TRS leader, who prefers to remain anonymous, claims otherwise.
Adilabad
Erstwhile Adilabad district recorded an average polling percentage of 80 per cent on Friday, an increase of 6 per cent in comparison to the last general elections. While Asifabad constituency recorded the highest polling percentage at 86%, Khanapur recorded the lowest at 71%.
Sangareddy
An exceptional rise in voter turnout was witnessed in ten Assembly constituencies in united Medak with the highest in Narsapur constituency at 90.53%. In TRS chief KCR’s stronghold Gajwel, voter turnout was recorded at 88.63 per cent as against 2014’s 84.8 per cent.
Karimnagar
Rural areas of erstwhile Karimnagar recorded a greater voting percentage than their urban counterparts this year. According to district election authorities, urban polling percentage was 69.20 per cent while in rural areas it was 78.78 per cent.