ANANTAPUR: Cross-voting fear is evident among major political party candidates in Rayalaseema and this is likely to impact the outcome in a few assembly segments.
This time, several voters opted for cross-voting and avoided casting both their parties to one political party. Their decisions were based on consideration of their liking for a candidate as also cast preferences.
Also, many slum and rural voters, who received cash from both parties, tried to do justice by casting their votes to those parties, separately, vis-a-vis the LS and assembly polls.
Unlike the previous elections, the YSRC and TD opted to field a majority of the Lok Sabha candidates based on caste equations in Anantapur, Hindupur and Kurnool constituencies, targeting BC votes -- mainly the Boya and Kurbua sections.
The YSRC fielded Penukonda MLA Shankara Naryayana of Kuruba as LS candidate from Anantapur while TD fielded Hindupur-based leader Ambika Lakshmi Narayana of Boya community.
Also, the YSRC fielded Karnataka’s former MP, J Santha, a Boya, from Hindupur LS, while the TD fielded BK Parthasarthi of the Kuruba community.
There were less such changes vis-a-vis assembly candidates in many segments. TD fielded Kamma candidates from Kalyandurg and Anantapur urban segments, who were new to those areas. Similarly, YSRC fielded sitting MP Talari Rangaiah of the Boya community from Kalyandurg assembly segment. YSRC did an experiment by fielding Kuruba community woman Deepika from Hindupur assembly segment against film star Nandamuri Balakrishna.
Analysts say a large number of voters opted for cross-voting -- either voting for the YSRC in the assembly and the TD candidate for Lok Sabha, or vice versa, but they were confused in several polling stations as to whom they should vote for.
The Congress had fielded Kuruba leader Mallikarjuna from Anantapur LS, and this had an impact on the Anantapur urban segment where a section of people voted for Congress candidate.
Meanwhile, large-scale cross-voting was reported from the Kadapa Lok Sabha segment where APCC chief YS Sharmila is the Congress nominee. A video of her mother YS Vijayamma seeking support for Sharmila impacted voters across the Kadapa area. Many voters from Pulivendula did cross voting – for assembly candidate Jagan Mohan Reddy and LS candidate Sharmila.
A group of TD activists too reportedly voted for Sharmila as they were unhappy with the TD leadership and the YSRC.
