Andhra Pradesh leaders go sleepless over election results

Hyderabad: Monday’s local body election results gave sleepless nights to the Assembly candidates of all major parties in both Telangana and Seemandhra regions.
This was especially true for Seemandhra, where it was close fought battle and YSRC and TD leaders are now waiting for May 16, the day of results for the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

The results of the local body polls have not been able to indicate the voting trends as in both regions, the urban voters favoured one party while rural voters favoured another.
In the municipal elections in Telangana, the Congress won more seats than rival TRS. Telan-gana PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah said after the municipal results were announced that the trend would continue in the Panchayat Raj, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections too. He also said that the TRS would drop to third place.  However, in the MPTC and ZPTC results, the TRS has won more seats than the Congress.

Similarly in Seemandhra, the urban voters preferred the TD over YSRC, and the TD leaders said that the same trend would be seen in the MPTC and ZPTC elections too. But in some districts, rural voters favoured the YSRC over the TD.

Compared to the municipal elections, the YSRC has done better in the MPTC and ZPTC results. But the final picture will come only after May 16.
After the municipal results, the Telangana Congress leaders were confident that they would get majority seats in the Assembly. Their excitement, however, was dampened after the MPTC and ZPTC results came out.

It was, meanwhile, exactly the opposite for the TRS leaders. In Seemandhra, political pundits had predicted a neck and neck fight between the YSRC and TD in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. After the municipal results, however, they thought that the balance had tilted in favour of the TD. This again changed when the MPTC and ZPTC elections threw up close results.

The TD leaders hope that in the Assembly elections, their party candidates will win where the Congress candidates were strong. They have identified around 25 such Assembly segments like Rajam in Srikakulam where former minister Kondru Murali is a strong candidate, Vijayawada Central (Malladi Vishnu), Visakhapatnam South (Dronam Raju Srinivas), Paderu (M. Bala Raju), Guntur West (Kanna Laxmi Narayana), Madakasira (Sudhakar).
The Congress has almost been wiped out in Municipal and Panchayat Raj elections in Seemandhra and the Assembly election too might throw up similar results, say a TD leader.

They are of the opinion that if the Congress candidates get 10,000 to 15,000 thousand votes in a segment then their candidates will have fair  chances of winning.
The YSRC leaders, meanwhile, are still confident that they will form the government by getting more than 100 seats.

Meanwhile, elated by the results in municipal, MPTC and ZPTC polls in Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam is confident of repeating the performance in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls too.
Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is holidaying with his family at an undisclosed destination, is expected to return to  the city on  Wednesday night.

Sources in the TD said that Mr Naidu is being kept updated on the Municipal, ZPTC and MPTC results in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and that he was extremely happy with the performance of the party so far in Andhra Pradesh In fact, the TD camp is in an upbeat mood with the party’s performance in both the elections so far.

“Results of the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls on May 16  will be on similar lines. TD chief Chandrababu Naidu will be Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Narendra Modi will be Prime Minister,” said K. Ramamohan Rao, the TD politburo member. He said it was a fight between justice and injustice and a fight against corruption with a promise of good  governance.

“Our loan waiver scheme for SHGs and other promises have worked,” he pointed out.
“We welcome the decision of rural voters in favour of the TD in nine districts in Seemandhra and one district in Telangana. We keep up our promise of loan waiver and we assure prosperity to farmers. The TD is the only party having presence in both the areas,” Mr Naidu said while reacting to the ZPTC and MPTC results.

However, the TD leaders were silent on the rout in Telangana region where  the party is in fourth position after the Congress, the TRS and others.
Party senior leader, Y.V.B. Rajendra Prasad claimed that public anger against the Congress for dividing the  state bifurcation, denial of a capital city and driving away Seemandhra people has reflected in the elections results.

“People have decided to bury the Congress, which drove them to dire straits. The Congress ignored the wishes of the Seemandhra people and forced bifurcation ignoring their interests and causing great injustice. It is a rejection of the corrupt,” he remarked.

With Assembly and Lok Sabha poll counting on May 16, Mr Naidu on his return on Wednesday night is likely to hold a meeting with senior party leaders and politburo members from both regions to review the Municipal, ZPTC and MPTC polls and also gear up for the counting of general elections.