Fence-sitters let loose

Warangal: Surveys suggest that last lap of campaigning is crucial in Indian elections as a high proportion of late deciders engage in bandwagon voting, also known as electoral winds.

Leaving no stone unturned to create such an impression, almost all major political parties, which have already begun inviting party hoppers, continued the spree even hours before the D-Day, Thursday's polling.

Wednesday witnessed a hectic political activity across the erstwhile Warangal district with chhota-mota to gully leaders changing party scarves.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is enjoying an exodus of second rung and fence-sitters to its fold, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also is not far behind compared to the former.

During this week, Vaddiraj Ravichandra alias Gayatri Ravi, Pagidipati Devaiah and Gandra Satyanarayana Rao, who unsuccessfully contested against the TRS in the Assembly elections, joined the ruling party.

Vaddiraj Ravichandra, who lost to TRS' Nannapuneni Narender from Warangal East constituency, had even campaigned for the Congress till recently.

Gandra Satyanarayana Rao, who jumped into election fray on Forward Bloc ticket after TRS denied him to field from Bhupalpally, is also back home. Pagidipati Devaiah, who unsuccessfully contested on Telangana Jana Samithi ticket from Wardhannapet, also joined the TRS.

The ruling TRS got a shot in the arm when senior Congress leader and former Husnabad MLA Aligireddy Praveen Reddy, who is also the president of Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Bank & Marketing Society Limited, joined its fold recently.

Reddy commands a huge support in his constituency.

The BJP also benefited ahead of the polling with two of the prominent Congress leaders - former Rajya Sabha member Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar and former minister Gunde Vijaya Rama Rao – joining its fold.

Meanwhile, several TRS MLAs belonging to erstwhile Warangal district appeared busy on Wednesday inviting second rung leaders, several sarpanches and ward members to the party fold.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior TRS leader said: "Its advantage for the ruling party. The last minute en masse exodus of leaders creates a sort of wave. Despite hectic campaigning and voter outreach, poll management plays a crucial role in the outcome of the elections.

This is where Congress seems to be lagging behind TRS by a mile. With trends suggesting that BJP-led NDA is likely to return to power at the Centre again, the BJP is also able to attract a few prominent leaders like Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar, Gunde Vijaya Rama Rao and others in the region.

But the saffron party is very much unlikely to create an impact in terms of voter patronage in this

Lok Sabha election."