Surveys galore for elections

Hyderabad, Dec. 10: This is the season of surveys in the state. Almost all the political parties are trying to assess the mood of the people in the run up to the Assembly elections.

The Congress is one step ahead of its rivals and is doing almost one survey every month.

It was the habit of the "hitech" Telugu Desam to conduct surveys and studies but the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekar Reddy, has beaten the main Opposition party in its own game.

The Chief Minister’s camp, led by his Officer on Special Duty, Mr Ravichand, is leaving no stone unturned to get maximum feedback ahead of the elections.

In the last one year, Dr Reddy’s team has conducted more than half-a-dozen surveys to find out the region-wise perception of the people.

One survey was conducted before Chiranjeevi’s entry into politics and another after his tour in North Coastal Andhra and Telangana. A third survey was conducted after the TD and the Left parties cemented an alliance.

Apart from this, the Chief Minister’s team also conducted surveys to assess the impact of irrigation projects, Indiramma Housing programme, Arogyasri and fee waiver for backward class students.

And the all the surveys conducted by Dr Reddy’s team predicted that people will give him a second term.

Students of the Nagarjuna, Sri Venkateswara and Sri Krishnadeveraya Universities are being roped in for these surveys.

Not to be left behind, the TD has also conducted surveys with the help of the Narayana Educational Institutions whose management is close to the party chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam party has conducted two surveys and the Telangana Rastra Samiti has also conducted one to assess the popular mood. Needless to say, both the surveys predict victory for the respective parties.

The TRS chief, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, is now planning to conduct one more survey to find out which party would be its best partner.

Interestingly, a leading Telugu newspaper also undertook a survey but did not publish the results since the feedback was in favour of the party it opposes.

Since there are 294 Assembly constituencies in the state, each survey costs around Rs 1 crore. But parties are not bothered as long as the survey results are inspiring.