Former Minister Roja Selvamani has hit out at those who are getting worked up over suggestions of electoral fraud. The charge has been led by the YSRCP. She said that others could win elections with the kind of vote-share YSRCP polled in the recent Assembly elections to AP Assembly.
"With just 40% VS, Narendra Modi has become Prime Minister. With just 40% VS, Revanth Reddy has become the CM of Telangana. However, with a similar VS, our party could secure just 11 seats. Even kids can tell you why it has happened," Roja told Sakshi TV, using the Telugu proverb 'Gummadi kayala donga ante bhujalu thadumukunnaru'.
The wide differences are because of the nature of the First Past The Post system. In Karnataka, sometimes, the party that polls fewer votes tends to win more Assembly seats. The VS of the BJP this General Election (2024) compared to last time (2019) is almost the same but the seat share fell by more than 60 seats. The FPTP system works that way. Sometimes, even a 1% lead can result in a 30-seat lead in an Assembly election.
Next time, the YSRCP could win 150 Assembly seats with a VS of 45%. So, a mere 5% increase in VS can give it 139 more seats. The result will depend on how the consolidation or fragmentation of votes takes place in different constituencies.
