The overwhelming participation of women voters seen in long queues in the rural areas on polling day on Monday has given a lot of hope for the ruling party to improve its strength from three seats in the 2019 elections.
An analysis of party strategists has given them positive indications that the Congress is likely to gain from women participation who are generally tilted towards the government, which is just four months old, according to a senior leader.
The voting percentage increased quite drastically in several constituencies from 3% to 5%, which is quite significant given the heat conditions. The final polling figures are yet to be released officially but the increase is quite prominent in the rural constituencies compared to 2019 elections. Urban constituencies have seen marginal increase.
Congress secured 39.40% of votes in the 2023 Assembly elections and the party assumes that the percentage would go up by at least 2% to 3%. Results of the ruling party surveys before the elections and exit polls apart from feedback from the leadership at the mandal and constituency level is also quite positive for the Congress, the party leaders claim.
In the Nalgonda constituency where Raghuveer Reddy, son of senior leader K. Jana Reddy is the contestant, the party is expecting a massive lead. Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who represented it till he won in the recent Assembly elections, has claimed several times that the party would win Nalgonda with the highest majority in the country.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy who reviewed the poll process with contestants, MLAs and senior leaders of the party at his residence on Tuesday also believed that it was a referendum for the party’s 100-day rule. The party’s welfare schemes and the general confidence in the government have influenced the voters to choose the ruling party. The feedback that the CM received is that the strength of MLAs mattered a lot.
One of the key elements of the party’s confidence in winning an impressive number of seats is the huge number of women voters turning up. Party leaders assume that the free bus service and the recently launched 200 units of free power and gas cylinder at ₹500 for eligible families tilted the voters towards the government.
The whirlwind tour of the Chief Minister covering almost all the Assembly constituencies also helped the party to inject confidence among voters. The transfer of votes from the BRS to the BJP was much less than expected and this helped the Congress to further consolidate is what the party claims.
