TRS upbeat over huge voter turnout
HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was clearly upbeat while the Congress was almost silent ' this was the sum and substance at the end of what has been a high voter turnout ' 72% ' in the 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Wednesday.
Though exit polls are banned by the Election Commission, punters are betting on the TRS, citing ground reports of significant cross-voting in Lok Sabha constituencies.
In contrast to the heavy turnout in Telangana districts, it was abysmal in Hyderabad, which recorded just about 53% ' this, despite a number of measures taken up by the Election Commission to encourage citizens to exercise their franchise.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who spoke to reporters after casting his vote, said, 'We will get two-thirds majority. I am 100% confident. There is no doubt. There is a tremendous wave. We will (win) close to 90 (Assembly seats).'
Party leader and his nephew T Harish Rao also appeared confident of victory and pointed at the heavy turnout to claim it reflected anti-incumbency.
'All those Congress leaders, who are day-dreaming of becoming the first CM of the newly-carved out State could be disappointed,' he predicted.
TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah too claimed his party would win but the lack of confidence in his voice was unmistakable. Several other Congress bigwigs appeared downcast by afternoon itself after they got a sense of the voters' mood.
As it is, several of them were facing trouble from within with almost every senior plotting the defeat of potential rivals within the party.
The TDP-BJP combine, which was hoping to play some role in the new government, was somewhat disappointed with the poor turnout in urban constituencies in Hyderabad which are considered their strongholds.
BJP leaders, however, claimed substantial cross-voting in favour of the party in Lok Sabha constituencies where it is in the fray. Interesting claims were made in respect of the Khammam Lok Sabha seat which borders Seemandhra and where the TRS doesn't have a strong presence.
While the Congress left it to the CPI as part of the alliance, YSR Congress is more than confident of wresting the seat from the TDP.
Despite the high turnout, the polling was by and large peaceful, except for a few stray incidents. According to State Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal, the highest turnout of 81% was recorded in Nalgonda district.
Interestingly, except for a few minor incidents, no single incident of violence was reported from any of the Maoist-affected areas in the region.
News Posted: 1 May, 2014
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