Political defections are common during the elections. But what we are seeing in Andhra Pradesh is looking like straight out of cinema script as every party has seen loads of influx of other party leaders.
The most significant defections is YCP MLAs and MPs joining the opposition parties TDP, JSP, and BJP. All three of the alliance parties have announced candidates who were previously with YCP. At the same time, even YCP has given MLA tickets to leaders who came from Telugu Desam. A few JSP leaders have also supported YCP.
BJP, which polled fewer votes than NOTA in the last election has gained prominence again after the alliance with TDP and JSP. No one can deny that BJP is also harboring a few YCP loyalists, most prominently, Somu Veerraju who allegedly soft-blocked Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju’s entry into BJP, as a token of favor to Jagan.
Like a ‘mixed fruit juice’ that has all kinds of fruits mixed in condensed milk, Andhra Pradesh polls have also become a mixed fruit juice. Metaphorically, the parties have become the condensed milk while the MLA/MP candidates have become mixed fruits. Every party has candidates who were with the other party for the last 5 years.
So whichever party comes to power, it will look like the YCP+TDP+BJP+JSP mega alliance came to power as some might find it difficult to immediately identify which MLA won on which ticket, after all the ‘mixing’ that happened during the polls.