Tirupati: Mid-May polls may bring more woes for parties, candidates

Tirupati : The election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday left the political parties in anguish. Contrary to the expectations that AP will go to polls in the first phase itself which falls on April 19, this time the polling will be held in the state in the fourth phase on May 13.

It may be recalled that in the 2019 elections the polling was held in the state in the first phase itself on April 11. Going by that everyone believed that the election battle will be completed before April 20 which can bring a great relief to the contesting candidates and cadres. As the parties have announced the candidates’ names much earlier this time, they have to bear extra burden of spending for the electioneering for almost two months.

“With the campaign stretching over two months, candidates may have to grapple with mounting expenses. The cost of advertising, organising rallies and mobilising supporters soared, making their finances dry. The ECI will have an eye on the increasing expenditure also which is another headache. Had the polls be held in April itself, we could come out saving at least 20 days expenses,” felt a senior leader.

By the time of May, there will be a severe water crisis in many urban and rural areas which will have a detrimental effect, particularly on the ruling party candidates. Also, the scorching heat may induce more demand for electricity which may lead to power problems. Even the campaign rallies may become an endurance test under the blistering sun. Above all, the voters may go out of their places during the summer vacation which may see a drop in poll percentages. Even the people available at their homes may not venture to come out for polling amidst the blistering Sun. This may hamper the officials bid to enhance the poll percentages by organising SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation) activities.

As the ECI blew the poll bugle, now the parties are left with no option but to face the brunt of the poll process for another two months and will have an uphill task ahead to keep the momentum with their agenda before the people till mid May.