Blaring microphones canvassing for votes day and night fell silent on Saturday as campaigning ended in the two Telugu states – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – where polling will be held on 13 May.
While simultaneous polls will be held for both 125 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, elections in Telangana will be held for 17 Lok Sabha seats. By-poll for the Secunderabad Cantonment seat in Telangana will also be held on the same day.
The last day of polling saw some big leaders campaigning for their parties as Union minister Amit Shah addressed poll rallies in Telangana, so did Priyanka Gandhi for Congress while her brother and party MP Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally at Kadapa seeking votes for party candidate YS Sharmila. Her brother and AP chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy ended his long campaign by addressing poll rallies in Pithapuram where JSP leader and Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan is a candidate.
Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “My legacy is my credibility. I say what I do, I do what I say,” even as his mother YS Vijayamma issued an appeal to the voters of Kadapa urging them to show the same love and support to YS Sharmila as they had supported YS Rajasekhar Reddy in the past.
A Congress MP, who visited Rajasekhar Reddy’s grave at Kadapa, said: “Babu (Chandrababu), Jagan (YS Jagan) and Pawan (Kalyan) made up BJP’s B team in AP.” He also promised to fulfil the promises made in the bifurcation act which BJP failed to do in AP.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Shah took a jibe at Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, saying he did not specify on which birthday of Sonia Gandhi he was going to fulfil his promises. “The only promise he has fulfilled is the one he made to his high command, that Telangana will bear the expense of fighting elections for his party across the country,” said Shah.
However, BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao dismissed Shah’s claims of winning ten seats in Telangana saying that the BJP will not win more than one seat out of 17 seats. He further added that the BJP with its tall claims can put even Goebbels in shame enough to commit suicide. When asked if he had a chance to be the Prime Minister, Rao flippantly said: “Why not, should the opportunity arrive?”
According to Telangana CEO Vikas Raj, cash and freebies worth Rs 320 crore were seized in the state.