BJP-RSS votes shifted in favour of Congress, says Radhakrishnan
The Hindu
Thripunithura BJP candidate says he did not get traditional party votes
The shifting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) votes in favour of the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate resulted in the poor performance of the BJP in Thripunithura, alleged K.S. Radhakrishnan, the party candidate and party State vice president. Except for the personal votes garnered by him, the traditional BJP votes were not polled in his favour, which resulted in the party vote share taking a dip, and him losing the election, said Mr. Radhakrishnan. There has been a dent in the vote share of the party from the Thripunithura municipal area, a party stronghold.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.