A day after exit polls predict a Congress surge in Telangana, state Congress chief Revanth Reddy expressed confidence that the party would get more than 80 seats in the 119-member Assembly.
"Congress is going to get landslide victory this time and the same thing is reflected in the exit polls. We are going to get over 80 seats," Reddy told ANI.
He added that the four crore people in Telangana were against the BRS. "This election was not Congress vs BRS. Four crore people were against BRS. This is the victory of the people of Telangana," said Reddy, while promising to implement the six guarantees of the Congress in the first Cabinet meeting itself.
The magic figure for any party to form a government in Telangana is 60, and multiple exit poll surveys predict Congress to cross that mark. Some have also raised the possibility of a hung assembly in the state. It has been learned that both parties, Congress and BRS, are prepared if faced with any such eventuality.
On whether he is in the race for the top post, Reddy said he will obey every order from the party's high command. "There is a screening committee, a selection committee and then the CWC has to take a call (for CM). In Congress, there is a process for everything. Being the PCC president, I will have to obey every order from the high command," Reddy added.
The BRS has dismissed the exit poll results, as "nonsense". The party working president K.T. Rama Rao questioned their authenticity and methodology, citing that people were still queued up outside booths even after 6 pm. He expressed confidence that the BRS would come back to power, winning more than 70 seats and this would be proven on the day of the results, December 3.
A voter turnout of 70.60 per cent was recorded in elections to the 119-member Telangana Legislative Assembly on Thursday which passed off peacefully, barring a few minor incidents. The polling in all the 119 assembly segments began at 7 AM amid tight security arrangements. It concluded at 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected constituencies, while in the rest 106 others, people could vote till 5 pm.