Fiction & Nonfiction

Fever

This too is fever of a kind; I mean the election result fever. A day ahead of counting of votes in the general elections, entire districts were in the grip of result fever in Andhra Pradesh, India. The scorching summer heat added to tension and anxiety particularly among the candidates who stood for elections.



In Andhra Pradesh, South India, elections for the state assembly and the parliament were over forty three days before. People voted for 175 assembly seats and 25 parliament seats spread over thirteen districts. With the election awareness going many rungs up compared to the past, people of Andhra Pradesh totaling up to 34.644 million went and voted. The healthy and the infirm, the haves and have-nots, the literate and the illiterate ( 25% illiteracy) walked, or went by transport of some kind to the voting booths and made use of the electronic voting machines choosing the symbol of their favorite party. There was intense competition among the three main parties namely, TDP (Telugu Desam Party, in power presently), YSRCP (Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Congress Party) and the recently floated JSP (Jana Sena Party led by the Telugu cinema matinee idol Pavan Kalyan.



Astrologers and election result pundits started making predictions regarding the future leadership of the state. In the social media a number of predictions by different people  appeared, each advocating his or her own point of view with a long data and a supporting argument.



Exit polls were not much valued. They were mostly biased, said several people.



Today, the 23rd May, 2019 is the vote-counting day. People started gathering before the halls allotted for counting of votes. “Which party comes to power?” is the question in every adult Andhra’s mind. Hotels and guest houses in towns, where counting of votes is taking place are totally booked by the candidates and their followers. Although the party candidates are confident of getting the majority, they have no way of getting the pulse of the people.



As the Super Thursday dawned and the counting of votes started at 8 am sharp, the candidates’ blood pressure is sure to go up. 

       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
After ten in the morning the results started trickling in. The radio, the TV and the smart phones are on flashing instant election news of each constituency. The public thronged roads, houses, cafes and public places to discuss the just released results of the elections.



The only final truth everyone is sure of is that election result will be entirely based on people’s verdict. Whoever has the people’s faith, will be the winner. Amen!