It’s advantage Maha Kootami in the first phase of elections in the state, if one were to go by the field reports. Though Election Commission has banned conduct of exit polls, several media organisations and independent agencies did their own surveys and came to the conclusion that the grand alliance is better placed than the Congress.
According to these surveys, the Congress would fare badly in Telangana, mainly due to heavy split of the pro-Congress votes and consolidation grand alliance. Though the Praja Rajyam could not make much impact on the rural electorate, it could split considerable number of votes in urban constituencies such as Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Nizamabad and Warangal. Interestingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is fighting it alone in these elections, has also split heavy votes in constituencies like Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad and Adilabad. If things work out well, the BJP might even bag Secunderabad.
The Congress is likely to win only four seats in Telangana: Chevella, Warangal, Pedapalli and Nizamabad; even Renuka Chowdary’s position is not so good, say the reports. In Mahbubnagar, TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao is likely to scrape through, while his party is expected to win Zaheerabad, Medak and Karimnagar seats. In a couple of other constituencies, the contest would be tough. In all other places, the grand alliance enjoys clear advantage, field level reports say.
In north-coastal Andhra, PRP has eaten into the Congress votes that will help the grand alliance again. Out of five Lok Sabha seats in this region, the PRP might win only Anakapalli seat, but it would indirectly help the grand alliance to bag at least three seats. However, the PRP is expected to establish clear leads in at least 15 out of the total number of 34 assembly segments, sources said.
