It has been more than a week since the polling for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections were held in Andhra Pradesh, and there are still another 12 days to go before the counting of votes will determine who will come to power in the state.
The elections are also being held to decide who will come to power at the Centre – whether it will be Narendra Modi again or the INDIA Alliance headed by the Congress.
However, reports from New Delhi indicate that the national media is focusing more on the outcome of the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections than the Lok Sabha elections.
The majority of media houses seem to have accepted that Narendra Modi will return to power at the Centre, and thus, they are more interested in what will happen in Andhra Pradesh.
Both the ruling YSR Congress Party and the opposition Telugu Desam Party are confident that they will come to power, but both sides concede that it was a tough battle.
The YSRCP leadership, which initially expressed confidence that it would win no fewer than 130-140 seats this time, is now admitting privately that it would scrape through with 95-100 seats.
On the other hand, the TDP leaders are optimistic that the NDA will end up with 105-110 seats, if not more, as the fight was tougher than expected.
The ruling YSRCP relies on its pillars of “welfare and trust,” while the TDP, in alliance with the JSP and the BJP, focuses on highlighting “lack of development,” inflation, and criticism of Jagan’s policies regarding sand and liquor.
Almost every day, the national media bosses are making inquiries with local journalists and independent analysts about the outcome of the Andhra Pradesh elections.
“Though exit polls are generally conducted on the day of polling itself, the national media has been conducting post-poll surveys even now in different parts of the state to find out which way the swing was in the May 13 polls,” an analyst said.
Apparently, while women voters and rural masses have voted in favor of the YSRCP, the urban middle class and the youth have voted against it, according to feedback received by the national media.
Issues like lack of infrastructure development and the land titling act might have impacted the prospects of the YSRCP, analysts said.
The curiosity will continue until June 1, when the exit poll results will be released, but the real outcome will be known only on June 4.