The fate of all the candidates in Andhra Pradesh who contested Monday’s assembly elections has been sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and it will be known only on June 4 which party will come to power in the state.
Both the ruling YSR Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance are putting up a brave front and are extremely confident that they will come to power with a comfortable margin.
Interestingly, the Jana Sena Party cadres are claiming that if the alliance comes to power and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu becomes the chief minister, the credit will go solely to Pawan Kalyan.
According to them, the Jana Sena Party worked hard throughout the state and ensured a 100 percent transfer of Pawan Kalyan supporters' votes to the TDP in several constituencies.
“It was the Jana Sena Party chief who took the initiative and joined hands with the TDP to ensure that the anti-incumbency vote didn’t split. It was Pawan who also pressured the Bharatiya Janata Party to reconcile with the TDP and join the alliance,” they point out.
They say that had Pawan not forged the alliance with the TDP and sacrificed his ambition to become the chief minister, the TDP would not have secured even 20-25 seats on its own.
“It is the Pawan factor that is going to help the alliance. So, the credit should go to Pawan Kalyan,” an analyst said.
At the same time, he said, the Jana Sena Party, too, would not have secured more than 20 seats had it contested the elections alone.
“So, Jagan would have returned to power comfortably. In any case, it was Pawan who brought all the major opposition parties together. So, the credit goes to him if Naidu becomes CM,” he added.
