HYDERABAD: The campaign for the Jubilee Hills Assembly byelection concluded on Sunday, paving the way for last-ditch efforts to sway voters through various inducements.
The next 48 hours will pose a major challenge for political parties in micro-managing electors. Political analysts do not rule out the possibility of parties going to any extent to influence voters.
Sources claim that between Rs 100 crore and Rs 120 crore may change hands till the polling process begins on Tuesday — an exercise euphemistically termed “poll engineering”.
The main parties are focusing on voter mobilisation in bastis and slums, which form a major vote bank in the constituency. With 4.01 lakh voters, the segment has recorded around 47 per cent turnout in the last two Assembly polls.
This time, parties are pulling out all stops to boost polling percentage with reports indicating that they are spending up to Rs 2,000 per vote. The main parties have appointed booth-level in-charges, each responsible for managing 50 voters.
These in-charges are tasked with coordinating voter transportation via autos and other vehicles to maximise turnout in their favour. Second-rung leaders are reportedly concentrating on persuading voters from rival camps and reaching out to apartment communities, where gifts are allegedly being distributed to woo urban electors.
The parties are believed to have assigned special teams in the constituency to distribute money to their selected vote banks. The activity is expected to continue late into the night and might go on until 8 am on polling day.
Sources said that one party allegedly distributed Rs 1,000 per vote early Sunday morning to around one lakh voters in the constituency. It is likely to distribute another Rs 1,000 each to another one lakh voters.
Its main rival is allegedly offering Rs 2,500 per voter and plans to cover 2.5 lakh voters, depending on the opponent’s spending. The party is focusing higher expenditure on slum and basti voters, who traditionally show higher turnout compared to urban areas.
To this end, it has appointed special in-charges in every division — local persons well-known to voters and expected to influence them easily.
Both parties are also targeting apartment communities, offering dinner parties and gifts such as grinders, mixers, washing machines, saris and generators, along with cash.
The coming hours will be crucial as parties attempt to convert campaign momentum into actual votes at the polling booths.