EVMs hold the secret

 Vijayawada: Thefate of candidates for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats has been sealed in the EVMs in Andhra Pradesh where more than 77 % voter turnout was recorded till 7 pm on Monday. The exact figures would be available only on Tuesday as still long queues were seen at many polling booths till late evening. Officials expect that it would go up to 85%. Analysts feel this would be a historical election.

If the mood of people and polling trends are indication, it appears that there has been a silent wave even in places like Kadapa, Pulivendula, Chittoor, East and West Godavari districts which have become the subject of surprise for psephologists and analysts. Barring sporadic incidents in the Palnadu region and Rayalaseema, by and large the polling was peaceful. Another interesting factor this time was the incidents did not affect the polling as voters braving hot weather stood in queue for long hours and exercised their franchise. A large number of people came to AP from Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Noida, and even abroad in large numbers.

The Election Commission of India deserves appreciation for making fool-proof arrangements and ensuring near zero percent violence free polls. Normally Palnadu, Jammalamadugu and such areas used to witness violence where bombs were used by rival groups. But, this time no such incident had taken place. Polling was very high even in these areas.

For a change, rigging which is a common feature in these areas was missing this time. In Kadapa, theintense campaign by APCC president YS Sharmila, who is contesting against YSRCP candidate Avinash Reddy, supported by Dr Sunitha Reddy whose father Y S Vivekananda Reddy was brutally killed in 2019 elections, as well as the appeal by Jagan Mohan Reddy’s mother Y S Vijayalakshmi in favour of Sharmila seemed to have had impact on the voters.

Even Tourism Minister R K Roja commented that her own party men were against her. A large number of farmers, women and youth were seen in long queues everywhere. In Tenali, YSRCP MLA hitting the voter also had its impact.

In East Godavari, where BJP state president D Purandeswari from Rajahmundry Lok Sabha, Pawan Kalyan from Pithapuram Assembly and Raghurama Krishna Raju (TDP) in Undi are some of the prominent candidates who are testing their luck. Women and youth in large numbers were seen in these areas standing in queues. In Visakhapatnam and North Andhra, it was first felt that the chances of ruling party and opposition are 50:50 but if the people’s enthusiasm is any indication, the situation could drastically change. Both the Opposition and ruling party claim it would be in their favour.

In Kaikaluru, YSRCP MLA did not go round his constituency. Another YSRCP candidate, V Rajani’s followers created some trouble in the evening after 5 pm but police restricted it.

In Chittoor last time a large number of fake voters came from Tamil Nadu and voted but this time no such incident took place except in one booth where an attempt of bogus voting was foiled by people and police.