If YSR Congress party is able to sweep the present by-polls to 18 assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, the party should be thankful mostly to women voters.

According to reports from the field, women voters who outnumber men are in favour of YSR Congress party.

While the primary reason for this is the welfare schemes implemented by former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the other reason is the widow and mother sentiment played by YSR Congress party honorary president Y S Vijayalakshmi during her 10-day campaign. She was able to successfully generate sentiment among the womenfolk saying that the Congress party has been harassing her and her family after the death of her husband. She could also evoke a sort of suspicion among the voters that her husband might have become a victim of sabotage.

It is learnt that at least two lakh voters had freshly enrolled in a couple of month before the announcement of by-election schedule; and most of the new voters are women. Though the urban voters might have been convinced to some extent about the allegations of corruption against Jagan, the rural voters are not at all bothered about these allegations, say the field reports.