Candidates in a piquant situation due to polling on same day in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Candidates in Telangana Lok Sabha elections face challenges due to coinciding polls in Andhra Pradesh, impacting voter turnout.

Candidates of the three major political parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana slated on May 13 are apparently landed in a piquant situation.

With simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly in Andhra Pradesh due on the same day, they are worried about the scope for movement of people to their native places. Coupled with the coinciding poll date, holidays on the election day as well as two days before – second Saturday and Sunday – has made candidates worry about the voter turnout in these areas on the polling day.

There are sizeable number of people from the neighbouring State settled in different parts of the State, particularly the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and areas surrounding it, as well as in Khammam and Suryapet districts bordering AP. The worries of the parties and candidates are further compounded with the rush of passengers towards Andhra Pradesh starting Friday.

Bookings in the trains operated by the South Central Railways to different destinations in Andhra Pradesh are full with long waiting lists still to be cleared. The SCR is reportedly planning to run special trains to Odisha and West Bengal, covering major cities between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam en route, to clear the extra rush.

The TSRTC on its part has full bookings, starting from Friday night, to these destinations with buses reporting 100% occupancy. Special buses are being planned to cover the extra rush but the requirement is unlikely to be met as the corporation had to operate special services towards north Telangana districts enabling people to travel and cast their votes besides providing buses for election duties.

According to sources, the corporation had therefore addressed communication to its AP counterpart explaining difficulties in operating special services on these three days. The APSRTC was reportedly asked to make arrangements for running special buses to cater to the needs of passengers travelling to important destinations in the State on the three days.