Never before in the history of Andhra Pradesh politics did by-polls matter so much. With Friday being the last day for campaigning, the Congress party, the YSR Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have stepped up their campaigning efforts in Kadapa.
The candidates and the supporters of the political parties are calling upon the district's residents at the latters' door-step, begging for votes.
Reports of liberal cash-flow in Kadapa have been making headlines for over a month now, and still continue to do so. Crores of rupees are being spent by the political parties to woo the public, and to have them participate in their road shows. On Wednesday, the Kadapa police seized Rs. 50 lakhs of unaccounted-for cash in Kadapa, Rs. 37 lakhs in Pulivendula, and Rs. 13 lakhs at yet another check-post in the district.
The members of Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) groups, farm labourers, coolies and the like, who earn Rs. 100 - Rs. 150 for a full day's work, are using the election rallies as an opportunity to make some quick money.
Each person who attends a road show is paid between Rs. 200 and Rs. 500, and the labourers thus prefer to bunk work and participate in the various road shows held all day long. And no, the paid participants do not seem to be loyal to any single party.
It has been estimated that more than 2,00,000 blue-collar employees were made richer by Rs. 15,000 each, over the past 3 weeks.
The cash-flow is not the only opprobrious aspect of the by-polls. The slugfest that the 3 parties have indulged in got promoted from bad to worse, with the convoys of the Congress and the TDP being pelted with stones, eggs, footwear, sticks, knives and sickles.
The
victimised parties expressed their concern to the Election Commission, and about 10,000 police personnel have been deployed to maintain peace in Kadapa on May 8th - the polling day.
With each party proclaiming itself the winner of the by-polls, all we can do is wait for the votes to be counted on May 13th.