KARIMNAGAR: Even when the counting of votes for the much-anticipated byelection was set to begin in just a few hours, the politicos continued their whirlwind tour of the segment with own post-poll surveys, attempting to get a clear picture as to whom the voters picked as their legislator.
It appeared as if voters, who were already vexed with at least 10 to 12 groups calling on them seeking their votes, had to survive another day of clamour. Two days after the polling for the Huzurabad constituency was completed, various agencies continued to approach the voters to prepare final sets of exit polls. A few people belonging to the segment told The New Indian Express that they, after a gap of about five months, finally heaved a sigh of relief when the sun went down on Monday.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Ramulu, a barber who runs a salon at Ellandakunta mandal, said: “Just today, a group of people entered my shop under the pretext of getting haircuts. Within a few minutes, the shop that was till then filled with chit-chats turned into a platform for political debates with the people belonging to this group asking other customers about their thoughts on the bypoll. When they went further and started asking as to whom each person voted for, the locals said that they weren’t interested in answering such questions. It was then that I realised they were carrying out a post-poll survey. I immediately asked them to leave my shop.”
Rajavva, a farmer belonging to Shambunipalli village, also shared a similar story. “With us, it happened while we were drying the recently harvested paddy by a roadside,” she said.