Claiming that the urban and semi-urban voters account for only a minority of the Seemandhra electorate, the YSR Congress is of the view that the majority of the rural electorate who voted in the panchayati raj polls stand by Jaganmohan Reddy.
But one thing became clear. That the fight is between TDP and YSRCP and that the Seemandhra electorate have vented their anger at the Congress for dividing the state by ensuring its rout in the civic polls.
This has been the worst performance of the Congress in the Seemandhra region since Independence. The annihilation of the grand old party was complete in Prakasam and West Godavari districts where it could not win even one municipal ward.
"It is very painful to see that the Congress could not win even a single seat. But we respect the people's verdict and will strive to revive the party," said APCC president N Raghuveera Reddy soon after the civic poll results were out. His own Madakasira municipality in Anantapur district voted for the TDP.
Leaders like Botsa Satyanarayana, Kanna Laxminarayana and Anam Ramnarayan Reddy failed to ensure victory in a single municipality in their respective districts. In contrast, the Congress won more than 50 municipalities in the last elections in 2005.
The majority of municipal corporations which were created by late YS Rajasekhara Reddy did not vote for the Congress though they were upgraded during the party's regime. Eluru, Rajahmundry, Chittoor and Anantapur corporations voted for the TDP though it was the Congress which upgraded their status.
"People thought that the TDP could administer well and urban voters favored Chandrababu Naidu who is being seen as the mascot of development in Hyderabad," said senior TDP leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu. For the first time, the Left parties failed to show any impact in the civic polls.
But this time, both the left parties could not open their account in three Seemandhra districts.
Except in Guntur and Anantapur, CPI and CPM could not win a single municipal ward. "This shows that both the left parties are completely decimated from the civic polls. Their strong trade unions, women and Dwacra associations failed to make any impact," said political analyst C Narasimha Rao. Whether the same show will be repeated in the Assembly elections is the big debated now.
"The electorate in the civic polls are small in number and have distinct characteristics like literacy, better economic status, employment and exposure. But if the gap between TDP and YSRCP is any indication, there is definitely a wave in favour of the TDP," opined Narasimha Rao.
But the YSR Congress continues to be optimistic. The rural voters in Seemandhra outnumber the urban and semi-urban voters by nearly three times. "We expect the MPTC and ZPTC results to be in our favour, as will be the Assembly and Lok Sabha results," said YSR Congress spokesperson Gattu Ramachandra Rao.
The reason for the optimism in the YSR Congress camp is that it believes that the TDP-BJP alliance, which was finalized after the municipal and panchayat elections, has pushed the minority vote towards Jaganmohan Reddy.
"In all the urban areas in Seemandhra, the minorities, who comprise a sizable number, voted for the TDP in the civic polls thinking that it would not align with the BJP. However, once it formed the alliance with the BJP, the minorities are very angry and have definitely voted for us and against the TDP-BJP combine
in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Everybody will see the change after the results are declared on May 16," said YSRCP senior leader P Mithun Reddy.
While the TDP camp is already jubilant that it will come to power in Seemandhra, the YSRCP leadership too is quite optimistic of the results being in their favour on May 16 and on Monday assured the agitating party cadre to keep cool for four more days.
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