TDP, which made substantial inroads in Nellore by-poll recently, seems to have lost some of that edge with the capture of a huge amount of money from its worker on Thursday.
Nellore police and revenue officials seized Rs 1 crore from a former TDP corporator Om Prakash, who is the brother-in-law of TDP Youth Wing president B Ravichandra. On a tip off by informers, the officials raided the house of Om Prakash and confiscated the amount, which they suspect was meant for distribution for the by-election. The money was handed over to Income Tax authorities for further investigation.
YSR Congress Party leader Gattu Ramachandra Rao alleged that the amount confiscated was actually Rs 5 crore, but the police colluded with TDP to show only Rs 1 crore.
The antipathy towards Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy apparently helped TDP to forge ahead as campaign picked up momentum. So much so that Jagan, who got informal surveys done through his Sakshi network, was forced to go on an extended campaign in the constituency.
Jagan was scheduled to campaign only for three days in Kovur but now, he spent 7 days in the constituency. Jagan camp was also reportedly apprehensive of TDP buying up votes. YSR Congress Party too allegedly offered Rs 200 per vote but received little response. On reports that TDP might be doling out liberally, Jagan Party got into action by hiking the amount to Rs 500, say local sources.
Despite all these hiccups, YSR Congress Party is still the favorite to win the seat. The candidate’s credentials may not be great, but the sympathy for late YSR will most likely override such concerns, say local observers.
In fact, many Jagan fans are so sure about the win that they are betting in crores on the party winning with nothing less than 30,000 votes.
