It’s time to guesstimate

While YSRC sees a sweep in its favour, the TDP sounds modest and the BJP guarded

With the fate of contestants sealed in the EVMs, people are awaiting the results, but parties are not!

If the claims of the two main contenders — TDP and YSR Congress — are any indication, they are beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

While TDP leaders are modest in claiming victory in anywhere between 90 and 110 Assembly seats out of 175, YSRC leaders see a sweep for the party with 140 seats. With such a sweep, they are willing to concede a lone Lok Sabha seat to the Opposition in North Andhra. Out of the five, it is confident of getting four and one will very likely go to the Congress, they say.

In Srikakulam district too, which is considered a TDP stronghold, the YSRC claims gains owing to infighting.

In Visakhapatnam district, the TDP is confident that it will win nine to 10 Assembly seats. In the others, it sees a keen contest.

The YSRC, on the other hand, claims that it will get 14 out of the 15 Assembly seats, conceding one seat to a senior TDP leader.

The BJP, which fielded its Andhra Pradesh president K. Haribabu from Visakhapatnam against YSRC’s honorary president Vijayamma and ran a high profile campaign, is confident that he will scrape through. It is also sure about victory from Visakhapantam North and Paderu Assembly constituencies.

However, BJP leaders are somewhat guarded in their assessment of the total scenario. “Either of the parties that will form the government will get around 100 seats,” says a BJP leader here. But, in about 60 to 70 seats of them the contest is very close and the winners will have a thin margin. None is able to forecast the outcome in those seats and hence the rival claims, he elaborates.

As of now, the BJP claims victory in four Assembly seats, including Visakhapatnam North and Paderu, and two more seats. Information about the other seats is not fully available, the BJP leader says.