The first general elections to Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation created a lot of enthusiasm among the people of the state.
Last time, elections were technically held in the combined state, though people were aware that they were voting for a government that rules the new state of Andhra Pradesh.
They voted for Telugu Desam Party to power for various reasons: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu’s experience, YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s adamant attitude in refusing to announce crop loan waiver, Pawan Kalyan-Modi factors etc.
But a lot of water has flown in Godavari and Krishna rivers in the last five years and all the above factors have undergone tremendous change.
On Thursday when the state went to polls, people turned out in large numbers at the polling booths to elect the new government for another five years.
According to the final figures, nearly 77 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in Andhra Pradesh. Apart from the locals, more than a million Andhra settlers from Telangana, Karnataka and even Odisha came to their native places in Andhra and Rayalaseema to take part in voting.
The question now is what would such a huge turnout of voters indicate? There are different arguments for the same.
The TDP leaders say the polling percentage went up due to large number of women taking part in voting for their party to show their gratitude towards Naidu for increasing pensions and releasing money under pasupu kumkuma scheme.
Naidu said many women voters who went back to their homes after seeing EVMs not functioning, returned to vote again following his appeal.
On the other hand, Jagan is also happy for the increase in voter turnout, because he feels a large number of youth took part in the voting. He alleged that Naidu deliberately tried to bring down the voting percentage, as an increase in voting would mean a nemesis for the TDP.
According to reliable information, the huge turnout was mainly due to first time voters and students, who were seeking a change in the governance.
It is not exactly known whether fans of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan had turned out in large numbers. But it might not be a good sign for Naidu.
