Poor voting to prove fatal for DS

The 51 per cent polling in Nizamambad is causing anxious moments for Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas.

Going by statistics, the percentage of polling was 10 per cent more than the last general elections, but it would not be sufficient for DS to win the polls because of the strong Telangana sentiment prevalent in the region.

The politcal analysts feel that if the percentage of polling exceeded 60 per cent then the chances of DS would have been bright. The PCC chief was primarily banking on the Muslim voters, whose number increased by 25,000 this time, but according to preliminary reports, the Muslims did not evince much interest in voting this time also, while the Hindu votes got split drastically.

The chances of BJP candidate Y Lakshminaryana got brightened with the sudden suicide of a Telangana youth seeking separate statehood. Though the Congress workers tried to rig the polls at several places, it did not work out much.

DS, however,expressed confidence that he would win the by-election from Nizamabad Urban constituency. “I am absolutely confident of winning. There is no doubt about it," he told reporters after exercising his franchise at a polling station here.

On complaints from a group of voters in Nizamabad that their names were missing from voters list, DS said it was a matter to be dealt with by the election authorities.