SNCN ACHARYULU
Hyderabad
If simultaneous elections are held the outcome will be different in Telugu states.
The ruling YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh will not be affected in any way by a simultaneous election, but in Telangana, it will hit the prospects of the ruling BRS.
While the BRS is opposing simultaneous elections the YSR Congress has decided to go with the Central Government’s decision regarding this.
In fact, in 2014, simultaneous elections were held for the Lok Sabha and the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Assemblies. However, the BRS decided to avoid simultaneous elections in 2018 and opted for early Assembly elections by dissolving the Assembly. But Andhra Pradesh went for simultaneous elections.
Now as per schedule, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections will be held along with Lok Sabha elections. The political scenario is different in Telangana than in Andhra Pradesh.
The general impression is that in a simultaneous election, national issues will gain importance over local issues. If national parties gain strength it will affect regional parties.
In Telangana, the Congress and the BJP are very strong. In this situation, the people will focus mainly on Lok Sabha elections and will consider only the Congress and the BJP and may ignore the BRS.
If the people decide to vote for the same party in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls it will hit the prospects of the BRS.
But this situation does not exist in Andhra Pradesh as the Congress and the BJP are politically insignificant there. The main fight will be between the YSR Congress and the TDP in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The YSR Congress is politically on a strong wicket compared to the TDP. As national parties are insignificant in AP, simultaneous polls will make no difference to the YSR Congress.
