The Election Commission of India announced that the country would vote in seven phases from April 19th to June 1st and the results will be announced on June 4th. With this, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into effect immediately.
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections and Parliament elections will happen on May 13th.
That means the elections will happen in the fourth phase and are 58 days away. Everybody expected the election to happen in the first phase or the second phase. So, this is a surprise for everyone from the public to the political parties.
Now, the question is who will benefit from this delayed election?
As things stand today, TDP and Janasena will welcome because they will get more time to campaign. The opposition particularly Pawan Kalyan wasted so much time in seat-sharing discussions. Now, he will have enough time.
TDP had announced all candidates except sixteen. Janasena has to announce fifteen. BJP is left with the remaining ten.
TDP and Janasena will also have enough time to pacify the rebels.
They should finish the announcement as soon as possible. Tomorrow’s first joint meeting of TDP, Janasena, and BJP will kickstart the campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will come down and set the tone for the campaign.
It is up to the BJP to maximize the delayed election advantage to the Opposition.
Jagan’s Government now becomes a caretaker Government.
It will be difficult to mobilize crowds and money for the campaign if the Election Commission is serious.
If the Central Government can tighten the screws by freezing funds, shuffling the bureaucrats and officials favorable to YSR Congress, Jagan will be suffocated.
This is something the BJP has done to Chandrababu during the 2019 elections.
If that is repeated again, it will be very difficult for Jagan to tolerate it for two months.
The alliance with the BJP can come in handy for the first time. We will have to see if the BJP does that sincerely.
