Cross-voting is a highly common problem when it comes to voting, but it is the opposition that usually suffers the most because of this. However, in a surprising turn of events, it is the ruling TRS that is suffering due to cross votes, in the Khammam district.
The Congress candidate, who lost the election, polled much more than his share of votes. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the cross-voting mostly happened from the TRS. The cross-voting that occurred despite keeping the candidates in camps in Goa, is a cause for serious concern for the TRS. Sources say that a senior leader is responsible for this cross-voting. The Congress had 119 votes. Due to defections, the number has come down to 103. Of these, the TRS targeted another 30.
So, one expected Congress to get no more than 70 votes, but Congress candidate Rayala Nageswara Rao polled 242 votes. This means that there were 140 votes, which must have been polled to the Congress candidate from the TRS. Sources say that the TRS suffered from such problems even in the 2018 assembly elections due to cross-voting. The TRS party is now conducting a probe into the cross-voting.