The YSR Congress Party on Sunday said the exit polls which predicted its victory in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections had only confirmed what it had been claiming for last several months.

However, the party did not agree with the exit polls for Lok Sabha election. The poll gave gave it 13-15 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state but the party said it was confident of winning 23 seats.

YSRCP leader Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the exit polls broadly indicated the situation in the state. “They have confirmed what we have been saying for last several months,” he said.

Ramakrishna Reddy, who is political secretary to YSRCP chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was confident that the party would get more seats than projected in the exit polls.

Three out of five exit polls predicted that the YSRCP will sweep the Assembly polls by winning 110-135 seats in the 175-member Assembly.

He said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu had admitted his defeat immediately after the polls by raising his doubts about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

On the exit poll of former MP L. Rajagopal predicting victory for the TDP, Ramakrishna Reddy said he had no credibility. He said Rajagopal had lost his credibility when his exit poll showed that Congress-led alliance will win Telangana Assembly elections in December last year but the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) emerged victorious with landslide victory.

According to Rajagopal’s exit polls, the TDP will win 90-110 seats while the YSRCP will bag 65-69 seats.

The YCP leaders are facing unexpected problems in Pedana assembly segment in Krishna district. Their own party ex councillor in 12th ward made a complaint to the Election Commission of India to cancel and conduct re-election in the segment in view of malpractices committed by their party candidate Jogi Ramesh. He charged that Ramesh’s followers from Ibrahimpatnam distributed Rs 10 lakh in the 12th ward two days prior to the April 11 polling.

YCP Ex Councillor Dodipattla Nageswara Rao has made the complaint after other party leaders began demanding return of Rs. 4 lakh from him. Nageswara Rao is asserting that he was not involved in money distribution to voters. The other leaders are blackmailing me to give the money, he said. Nageswara Rao’s allegations created sensation in the political circles. Rumours spread that the dispute is an outcome of the internal clashes between the YCP leaders over money distribution. It’s not unusual for main political parties to face the problem of second rung leaders pocketing most of the money that is meant for distribution to voters.

In 2004 and 2009, YS Rajasekhar Reddy came to power with good support from the twin Godavari districts. YSR used to promote a section of leaders each in the Kapu and SC communities. Those leaders coupled with the Congress party’s traditional voters helped YSR to a large extent. Is there any scope for creating such an atmosphere? Now YCP leaders are expecting similar support from the SC and BC communities in Godavari districts in the present election. They are on virtual propaganda in the rest of the state that the voters unilaterally voted for the YCP in these districts.

Interestingly, even the Jana Sena party leaders are expecting massive support in the two districts. The Kapus were stated to have voted for Pawan’s party but it’s not sure whether their support was 100 per cent. The TDP is confident that it has got a good share of vote banks in almost all sections thanks to its welfare programmes like Pasupu Kumkuma.

In 2014, Jaganmohan Reddy blindly believed that the Godavari voters would extend the same support as in the case of his father YSR. Now the question is whether Jagan had got strong enough leaders to get him winning numbers in Godavari districts.

Not a day passes without YCP MP Vijayasai Reddy getting involved in heated exchanges with the TDP leaders. This time, it’s AP Planning Board Vice Chairman C Kutumba Rao who passed angry counter remarks. Vijayasai has no moral right to criticize and call me a stock broker. In fact, Vijayasai himself is a corrupt and fraudulent auditor. Is it not? asked Kutumba Rao.

The exchanges between the two leaders were triggered after Vijayasai passed several comments on the alleged heavy debts in Andhra Pradesh. He has also talked about the lack of discipline on the part of the TDP government to take care of the finances of the state. Kutumba Rao asserted that their government had done all the right things to extend maximum benefits under the welfare schemes for the poor families. Is it bothering the YCP leaders? Vijayasai Reddy should clearly explain whether the TDP made wasteful expenditure on the welfare schemes. The AP people are not ready to blindly believe YCP leaders and they had already given their verdict accordingly, said Kutumba Rao.

After April 11 polling, there were claims and counter claims about victory chances of the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress Party. A few days later, bettings picked up speed with the bettors putting greater confidence in the TDP win. There was hesitation on the part of YCP sympathisers to put high bets on Jaganmohan Reddy becoming the chief minister.

But now the scene has changed dramatically that the YCP has emerged as the favourite for the bettors and punters. The pro-Jagan betting gangs have grown highly confident. Analysts say that this is because of the general atmosphere prevailing now after the Election Commission of India reduced the powers of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in different ways.

Seeing the greater confidence levels of YCP leaders, the pro-TDP punters are now thinking twice before taking any risk. Speculation is also rising once again on the likely winning chances of the two main parties.