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Hyderabad, Dec.10 (PMI): The political fortunes of the contestants in the Legislative Assembly elections, as also the different political parties, will become known today (Tuesday), as the counting of votes starts at 8 am. The results are expected by evening, while the trend will be known by afternoon itself. As many as 1,821 candidates are in the fray for the 119 seats, and polling took place on December 7. Nearly 73 per cent of a total electorate of 2,80,64,684 have exercised their franchise in 32,815 polling booths across the State.
Of the large number of contestants in the field, only 119 will be the lucky ones. The ruling TRS, the Praja Front consisting of four parties – the Congress, the TDP, the CPI and the TJS — the BJP, BLF and MIM, besides some independents are in the field. But, the main contest appears to be between the TRS and Congress-led front. The MIM has fielded its candidates only in 8 constituencies, where it has a strong base. The TRS and the BJP are contesting on their own, without any alliance.
Not surprisingly, both the TRS and the Praja Front are exuding confidence of winning majority of the seats and be able to form the Government. Majority of the election surveys and the exit poll surveys have predicted the victory of the TRS led by the caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, while the survey conducted by former Congress M P Lagadapati Rajagopal has said that the Praja Front will secure majority of seats.
Analysts are of the view that money and liquor were distributed on large scale (in an unprecedented manner) in the elections, as the candidates and the political parties are very keen on winning the election by hook or crook, bidding goodbye to democratic principles, morality and ethics. This, even after the authorities had seized a huge amount of Rs.135 crore and 4.70 lakh litres of liquor, during raids. The political parties have also made several promises, while accusing each other of failure to fulfill the promises made during the earlier elections. The TRS and the Praja Front vied with each other in making promises and showering sops, which required huge amounts, beyond the resources available to the Government.
Counting of votes will be taken up at 43 Centers in the State –13 in Hyderabad and one each in the 30 districts. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the counting process. Police made tight security arrangements at and surrounding areas of the counting centers. CC cameras have also been arranged, to keep an eye on the happenings in the centers. (PMI)
