YSRC claims landslide based on ‘scientific exercise’

‘The personnel sent information five times during the 11-hour polling at most of the places and 10-hour duration at some places’. Explaining the methodology evolved for the scientific exercise, the party source said care was taken even in the selection of polling stations where voters were contacted after exercising their right of franchise.

The confidence being exhibited by the YSR Congress Party leadership and its rank and file about a “landslide” victory in Seemandhra elections is backed by a scientific exercise taken up by the party on the day of polling involving about 1,100 personnel and not mere optimism, party sources claim.

The party has set up a separate mechanism for conducting the psephological exercise by drafting 1,100 personnel from within the organisations owned by the party leadership and some outsiders, particularly technical experts specialising in data analysis from a reputed software firm, sources in the party told The Hindu .

According to final analysis of the organisational exercise taken up by YSR Congress, the party has a clear edge in 147 Assembly constituencies and is running neck-and-neck in another 19 segments while the rival parties have an edge over its candidates in the remaining nine constituencies. Similarly, the party has clear edge in 22 parliamentary constituencies, the sources stated.

Explaining the methodology evolved for the scientific exercise, the party source said care was taken even in the selection of polling stations where voters were contacted after exercising their right of franchise. “Polling stations with voter mix of different communities were selected for the purpose. Voters aged above 60 years, young voters, particularly the first timers, minorities were contacted in two groups of literate and illiterates or semi-literates”, the sources explained.

About 50 personnel were engaged in compilation and analysis of the data secured from the field in a special cell set up here while six personnel each were given the task of contacting voters in every assembly segment. To overcome the tendency of “familiarity” and to rule out the possibility of bias among the local personnel drafted for the exercise in districts, a sizeable number of personnel from Telangana area were sent to Seemandhra to make it an objective affair, the sources in YSR Congress said.

The personnel in the field had collected and sent information five times during the 11-hour polling at most of the places and 10-hour duration at some places. Most of the seats where the party candidates’ prospects are even with that of rivals or the rivals having edge were in East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts.