A majority of exit poll surveys hint at change of guard in Andhra Pradesh (AP). Yet, there is a lone survey from former MP and ‘man of surveys’ Lagadapati Rajagopal which predicts the opposite.
However, responding to the exit polls, Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, “Time and again exit polls have failed to catch the people’s pulse. Exit polls have proved to be incorrect and far from ground reality in many instances. While undoubtedly TDP government will be formed in AP, we are confident that non-BJP parties will form a non-BJP government at the Centre.”
Of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is expected to win up to 18 to 20 and the TDP 6 to 7 seats, according to a survey. The survey also predicted that the influence of actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party has cut into the the vote bank of both the TDP and the YSRCP. However, the influence of the national parties — Congress and BJP — is minimal in the State.
The number of Assembly seats the YSRCP will pick up is pegged at 120-30 and the TDP about 50-60 in a House of 175.
A bunch of other online and offline surveys go with the numbers, though with a slight deviation. In contrast, Mr. Rajagopal’s survey predicts that a majority of the people have preferred TDP and the party will win over 14 Lok Sabha seats. The prediction of the former MP that the Congress-led alliance would emerge victorious in the Assembly election in Telangana went wrong with the TRS romping home comfortably.
In 2014, the TDP won 102 seats, its ally the BJP 4, and the YSRCP 67 seats.
The TDP and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan had then teamed up with the BJP. The TDP gradually distanced from NDA due to multiple political and financial issues with the party at the Centre.
