The TRS was clearly upbeat and the Congress almost silent - this was the sum and substance of the high voter turnout of 72 per cent in the 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Wednesday.
Though exit polls are banned by the Election Commission, punters are betting on the TRS, citing ground reports of significant cross-voting in Lok Sabha constituencies.
In contrast to the heavy turnout in Telangana districts, it was abysmal performance in Hyderabad, which recorded just about 53 per cent - this, despite a number of measures by the Election Commission to encourage citizens to exercise their franchise.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who spoke to reporters after casting his vote, said, “We will get two-thirds majority. I am cent per cent confident. There is no doubt. There is a tremendous wave. We will (win) close to 90 (Assembly seats).” His nephew and party leader T Harish Rao also appeared confident of a victory and pointed to the heavy turnout to claim that it reflected anti-incumbency. “All those Congress leaders, who are day-dreaming of becoming the first Chief Minister of the newly-carved out state will be disappointed,” he predicted.
TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah too claimed his party would win, but the lack of confidence in his voice was unmistakable. Several other Congress bigwigs appeared downcast by afternoon itself, after they got a sense of the voters’ mood. As it is, several of them were facing trouble from within with almost every senior plotting the defeat of potential rivals in the party. The TDP-BJP combine, which was hoping to play some role in the new government, was somewhat disappointed with the poor turnout in urban constituencies in Hyderabad, which are considered their strongholds.
The BJP leaders, however, claimed substantial cross-voting in favour of the party in Lok Sabha constituencies where it is in the fray. Interesting claims were made with respect to the Khammam Lok Sabha seat, which borders Seemandhra and where the TRS does not have a strong presence.