VIJAYAWADA : As two weeks still remain for the counting of votes to the AP State Assembly, contenders in all the parties are surviving anxious moments. The candidates who sought elections sometimes feel confident of winning and sometimes wonder whether their calculations have gone horribly wrong.
Many contestants believe that silent voting happened in the recent election, and there was no swing in favour of any party, a political analyst said. “It is hard to predict the verdict,” he said.
Though there is an increase in voter turnout compared to the 2019 elections, there are no indications whether the voters stormed the polling stations to exercise their franchise against or in favour of the ruling party. However, going by the previous trends, it is natural for the opposition to claim the enhanced poll percentage in their favour, the analyst added.
Meanwhile, the rank and file of the TDP though optimistic that the outcome of the elections would be in their favour, however, expressed disappointment as they are yet to get words of courage from the top leadership of the party.
Though TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on his part, on the date of polling (May 13) thanked the voters for turning up in large numbers to exercise their franchise, and observed that the people extended their support to NDA (TDP-BJP-JSP combine), no such statements came from the other leaders of the TDP after the completion of elections much to the dismay of the cadres.
However, candidates of the TDP are of the view that the increased vote percent and also joining hands with the JSP and BJP turned the election in favour of the NDA in the State.
In 2019, the TDP lost several seats with narrow margins because of the split in the opposition vote. Particularly, the JSP, though limited to a single seat, got a considerable number of votes in several constituencies in the last election. If those votes had been polled for the TDP candidates, our party would have got more seats in the last elections, a senior leader said. This time, the anti-incumbency factor coupled with the formation of the alliance definitely improved the chances of the alliance, he added.
On the other hand, YSRC supremo and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, after the elections claimed that his party will emerge victorious in more than the seats it achieved in the 2019 elections. This increased the morale of the YSRC cadres as they recall how Jagan’s predictions in the last elections had come true, and it will be a repeat in this election also.