Telangana sentiment or KCR's magic, or probably both: TRS sweeps Telangana assembly elections, according to Exit Polls
Even as the Congress-led Mahakutami was busy squabbling over seat-sharing, and BJP was harping about free cows and communalism, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) seems to have worked its magic with the voters, if Exit Polls are to be believed.
The India Today-Axis My India exit polls predicted a sweep for K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS, with the party likely to win 79 to 91 seats in the 119-member House.
The Congress-led Mahakutami (including the Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Jana Samithi and Communist Party of India) has managed just 21 to 33 seats in this survey. The BJP, that decided to contest alone in these polls, is estimated to get one to three seats, and the Asauddin Owaisi-led AIMIM is expected to win between four and seven seats.
When it comes to the vote share of each party, the exit polls predict TRS to get 46 per cent of the votes, and the Congress-TDP alliance is projected to get 37 per cent of the votes. The BJP and AIMIM are expected to garner around seven per cent and three per cent vote share respectively. The others are likely to get 7 per cent vote share.
KCR’s schemes for farmers, like Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima, besides the irrigation and water schemes like Mission Kakatiya, Mission Bhagiratham, and Kalaeswaram project seem to have made an impact on the people of Telangana. This is despite the political analysts and media reports pointing out KCR’s unfulfilled promises of three tenets on which the state was formed — neellu, nidhulu, niyamakaalu — to have its own water resources, to secure its due share of funding from the Centre, and to create its own employment opportunities.
Furthermore, the communally sensitive Hyderabad — that saw riots almost every other day — has been peaceful, with not even one riot since KCR took charge, according to experts DailyO spoke with.
Predictably, KCR contesting from Gajawel is likely to win according to the Exit Polls, as will his son K Tarakarama Rao (KTR) and his nephew T Harish Rao from their respective constituencies of Sirsilla and Siddipet.
What is interesting is that A Revanth Reddy — the Telangana Congress Working President — who was arrested for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to a legislator as a TDP MLA, is likely to lose his seat in Kodangal to his TRS rival Patnam Narender Reddy. TRS’s move to field the interim minister Patnam Mahender Reddy's brother in Kodangal seems to have worked according to Exit Polls prediction.
Furthermore, Kukatpally and Goshamahal constituencies are also reportedly headed for a tough battle.
The Kukatpally constituency was being represented by Madhavaram Krishna Rao — the TDP MLA who had defected to the ruling TRS after being elected on the TDP ticket in 2014 polls. He is apparently facing tough competition from the TDP candidate, Suhasini — who is also the granddaughter of the party founder NT Rama Rao (NTR).
Apart from TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, several top TDP leaders and film stars had campaigned for Suhasini, and are keen to win this seat and “teach a fitting lesson to Krishna Rao for his betrayal”. Also, the constituency comprises of a large population of migrants from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh — a loyal base of Chandrababu Naidu.
The Goshamahal constituency is being represented by BJP’s controversial Hindutva leader Raja Singh Lodh — who has been slapped with at least 43 cases till date for hate speeches, promotion of enmity between different groups and rioting, among others.
Raja Singh, who also leads the Gou Rakshak Movement in the old city of Hyderabad, had reportedly threated to kill beef-eaters and shoot illegal Muslim migrants. Ironically, Goshamahal is in Hyderabad old city, which consists of sizeable Muslim voters. He is facing a tough fight from TRS’s Premsingh Rathod.
According to the Election Commission, 67 per cent interim voter turnout was recorded — the turnout during the 2014 Assembly Polls was 72 per cent.
The polling ended in 13 Left Wing Extremism affected constituencies at 4 p.m, and at 5 p.m. in the remaining 106 constituencies.
There were some incidents reported, including Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy, Vamshichand Reddy, being attacked by unidentified persons in Jangareddypalli village of Mahbubnagar district earlier today and ace shuttler Jwala Gutta and Telangana Additional Director General of Police Tenneti Krishna Prasad claiming that their names being missed from the voter list.
For the first time, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was installed across the state. After a voter casts their vote on EVM, the VVPAT attached to the machine will display for seven seconds the choice made by them.
Also read: Why Telangana Assembly polls might spring a surprise