HYDERABAD: BJP is hoping to cut into Congress’ votes as well as those of the TRS in the Munugode by-election, so that it can win by a comfortable margin.BJP spokesperson S Prakash Reddy, who is a native of Munugode, told Express that as per TRS’ own survey, it would get 41 per cent votes, BJP 37 per cent, Congress 12 per cent, BSP 4 per cent. He claimed that the survey explained the situation before the nominations were filed, and the situation can change.
“If BJP can gain 6 per cent of Congress’ votes and 2 per cent of TRS’, we can win by a comfortable margin. As TRS is the ruling party, naturally we can’t expect a large per cent of its votes transferring,” he observed. BJP is banking on split in Congress’ voters, as there are those voters (mostly senior citizens) who still follow the Nehruvian Congress ideology, and the younger generation which forms 40 per cent of the voters, are mostly the swing voters who are flexible in their choice.
One opportunity which BJP is eyeing is Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra,’ when most of the party leaders will be busy in attending the padayatra, which could affect Congress’ campaign in Munugode. BSP’s entry into the fray by fielding Andoju Shankara Chary as its candidate has certainly become a matter of speculation among political circles, as it needs to be seen whose votes will BSP cut into.