Numerous videos across several news channels and the internet had people at polling stations in Andhra Pradesh shouting slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission for such a haphazard way of conducting elections in the state. “Modi down down, EC down down” were the slogans heard from polling stations, mostly from agonized women who had waited for several hours for EVMs to start working.
The clashes and violence reported from different parts of the state also were indicative of how the Election Commission did not respond to them and rubbished the claims. All these have angered citizens who had been waiting for their chance to vote. With negative sentiment against the BJP at the Centre already seething among the citizens of the state for not fulfilling promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, the polling and EC’s inaction spiked up the anger against the BJP further.
The BJP knows too well that it cannot make headway in Telugu states. Cleverly, the Modi-Shah duo has invested in supporting TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and YSRCP Chief Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy to seek support in the Parliament. According to the BJP’s calculations, even if it gets the support of around 35-40 MPs from the Telugu states, it works well for the party in case they fall short of a majority.
While the saffron party has hatched a clever plan, the mood of the people is definitely against it and even if YSRCP comes to power and supports the BJP, people could be unhappy with it. All in all, many states that the huge voter turnout is also due to the BJP’s nonchalant attitude towards Andhra Pradesh and neglecting the state at a time when the Chief Minister is doing everything in his might to develop it.
