ANANTAPUR: With elections only a couple of months away, the ruling YSRC has got down to set its house in order in Anantapur district by conducting surveys and cajoling dissidents in the party.
Already it has changed seven incumbents for the Assembly as well as two Lok Sabha constituencies. As for the remaining seven Assembly seats of the erstwhile undivided Anantapur district, the decision is likely to depend on the candidates of TDP and its allies.
However, it has not yet been confirmed if there may be any changes in those seven Assembly segments. The YSRC cadre in those segments seems to be in a state of confusion. Troubleshooters of the party have got their hands full.
In spite of dissidence in the party, as part of ‘Mission 175’, YSRC coordinators are busy identifying local leaders who can influence about 100 voters, and dissidents in the TDP to lure them into the party fold, besides leaders of local communities.
Once such people are identified, the troubleshooters will step in to bring all those into the party fold by addressing the issues they are facing in case they are within the party and offering better opportunities for those outside the party. Now, focus is on identifying the reason for the dissidence within the party and address the issue to ensure that the party does not suffer because of it. It is learnt that multiple secret surveys are being conducted to assess the situation at the ground level and know the pulse of people.
The election strategy includes appeasement of the disgruntled voices within the party and capture of the vote bank of the rival party. As part of the survey, a questionnaire with 20 questions has been prepared. Based on the analysis of the answers, an action plan will be formulated to address the issues that come to the fore, sources explained.
The exercise is also to identify groups at village, ward, mandal and constituency level, status and influence of the dissidents and what need to be done to appease them, leaders of locals communities and their sphere of influence and to what extent they can help improve the party’s electoral prospects. It has also been decided to identify NGOs and people’s organisations that can influence voters. Most importantly, they will identify the long pending issues of the respective constituencies and discuss the same with the party’s top leadership to get them solved.
Identifying coverts and initiating damage control is another important task entrusted to the troubleshooters. Identification of the youth, who are neutral, and bring them into the party fold, besides assessing the strength and weaknesses of the ticket aspirants are also the main tasks of the troubleshooters to ensure that the YSRC makes a clean sweep in the ensuing polls, sources added.