BSP alone had impact on voters after major political parties in Munugode

Hyderabad: Going by the polling trends, the BSP appeared to be the only party to have created some impact, besides the TRS, the BJP and the Congress. Assessments made by local leaders in Munugode indicated that the BSP would garner up to five per cent of the votes in the bypoll.

The leaders of main parties discussed who would be most affected by the BSP’s presence, especially if the the race is tight.

The BJP and Congress leaders claimed the TRS’s Dalit votebank would be affected, while the ruling party said the BSP would take away the Congress’s traditonal support base. The BJP, it was generally agreed, never had support from among the Dalits.

Meanwhile, the BSP picked several first-time voters as its polling agents like G Laxmi Prasanna and L Sreeja. Elated to be voting for the first time, they said they felt honoured to observe the voting process very closely.

BSP state president R.S. Praveen Kumar congratulated them, saying on Twitter: "Let's congratulate these brave women who volunteered to be the polling agents of BSP despite all threats in the Munugode bypoll. We have about 40 women polling agents today (sic)."

Laxmi Prasanna, studying engineering in JNTU, Hyderabad, was deployed at Ravigudem (Booth 157). She said that she did not have any idea about the election process, but learnt about it and it was an exciting experience.

Sreeja, a degree student, who was posted by the BSP at Palivela (booth 134), where violence broke out between the TRS and the BJP two days ago, said the voting process went off smoothly.

A first time voter, Sreeja said, “In addition to my experience as a polling agent, what made me more happy was that people from all categories came out in big numbers to vote," she told Deccan Chronicle.