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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HYDERABAD 000055 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM KDEM IN
SUBJECT: BHARAT BALLOT 09: UNDERSTANDING ANDHRA PRADESH: THE TURNOUT 
 
HYDERABAD 00000055  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Voter turnout in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) 
was significantly higher than the national average during the 
concurrent 2009 national and state elections.  Neither issues, 
nor sops, nor the much-hyped media and youth campaigns seemed to 
be the driving force behind this.  It was women who made the 
difference.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------- 
Turnout: Braving the Heat 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  AP voters turned out in droves under a blazing sun to cast 
their ballot during the first two phases of the concurrent 
national and state 2009 elections.  The official turnout for 
Phase I was nearly 70 percent and during Phase II it topped 75 
percent.  The 72 percent average for the state was far above the 
national average of 57 percent.  Speaker of the AP Legislative 
Assembly K. Suresh Reddy told the Charge d'Affaires (CDA) that 
`people survived four to five hours in the heat to do their 
duty,' but this time the average voter only had to wait for 30 
minutes.  The Speaker highlighted the `success' of the Election 
Commission's (EC) Phase I and II planning, especially efforts to 
purge the voting rolls of duplicate voters. 
 
¶3.  Political observers noted that the elaborate security 
arrangements instituted by AP Director General of Police (DGP), 
A.K. Mohanty were another essential factor promoting the high 
turnout.  There was no significant violence by Naxalite or other 
groups with intent to disrupt voting in the state.  In the 
run-up to first round of polls vigilant policing seized 437 
illegal guns, 777 homemade bombs, 69 hand grenades, and more 
than 250 million rupees (USD 5 million) in cash.  DGP Mohanty's 
efforts to control the flow of money and liquor prior to the 
elections were widely seen as being totally unbiased.  A media 
interlocutor opined that some previously disaffected voters saw 
these efforts to `clean up' the process, and were inspired to 
cast ballots for the first time. 
 
-------------------------- 
Issues: From None to Local 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The Times of India declared, `This is a strange election - 
it's an all-India election with virtually no national issues. 
Security or terrorism doesn't seem to be agitating people across 
the country.'  Campaigning in the state on April 6, Gujarat 
Chief Minister Narendra Modi (BJP) declared that Hyderabad is 
`sitting on a powder keg.  Terrorists more dangerous than those 
in Kashmir live here.'  However, voters did not seem to agree. 
Even the recent Mumbai terror attacks, which reminded many 
Hyderabad residents of the three major bombings that impacted 
this city in 2007, didn't create a groundswell of interest in 
the issue.  For Srinivas Reddy, Deputy Editor of the The Hindu 
daily's Hyderabad edition, the reasons were obvious: urban 
dwellers grew to accept that `the bigger the city, the more 
security issues you have;' and terrorism wasn't an issue for 
AP's rural voters, who are not affected by it and for whom cheap 
rice, reliable access to water and other basic necessities are 
the issues of overriding importance. 
 
¶5.  In the last election it was the Congress party's promise to 
provide `free power to farmers' and to dramatically increase 
irrigation projects throughout the state carried the party to an 
overwhelming victory.  Not surprisingly, in this election cycle, 
each of the main contestants - the ruling Congress party, the 
opposition `Grand Alliance' led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), 
and newly formed Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) led by a Telugu film 
star turned politician - curried favor with the voters by trying 
to outbid each other with promises of sops. 
 
¶6.  Speaker Suresh Reddy (Congress) noted that his party's free 
health care schemes for the poor combined with massive 
multi-year irrigation programs had improved living conditions in 
both the cities and villages for so many voters that Congress 
would win at the polls.  He remarked that Congress wasn't 
offering more sops but continued good governance and that 
`governments which do reasonably well usually return to office.' 
 
HYDERABAD 00000055  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 He continued that `Congress' ability to deliver more than they 
promise' foretells a return to power both in the state and 
nationally.  [NOTE: Speaker Suresh Reddy took `a calculated 
risk' and lost his bid for fifth consecutive term of office 
after changing constituencies.  END NOTE] 
 
¶7.  TDP Leader N. Chandrababu Naidu highlighted the positive 
response by voters to his party's Cash Transfer Scheme (CTS) for 
the poor.  He noted that previous employment/poverty alleviation 
schemes were marred by the fact that middlemen would siphon off 
as much as 80 percent of the allotted funds.  This problem would 
be resolved by paying the funds directly into accounts at 
various nationalized banks held by a woman in the family, who 
had access to them through an ATM card. 
 
¶8.  PRP leader K. Chiranjeevi launched the party with promises 
of social justice and an improved society without corruption. 
However, he quickly adopted the familiar strategy of his rivals 
for wooing voters.  Throughout the campaign he made promises 
ranging from a guarantee of 5 hours free power each morning and 
evening to rehabilitation packages for displaced farmers.  Most 
political analysts commented that it was the chance to see the 
AP's biggest film star and not the programs on offer which was 
the main reason that thousands turned up at PRP rallies and were 
quick to add that attendance at rallies does not necessarily 
turn into votes at the polls. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Selling the Party: Media and New Technology 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Accusations of media bias and unethical practices were so 
rampant that on May 14 the Press Council of India called for an 
investigation into allegations that several newspapers, in 
particular vernacular dailies, published paid news articles 
during the elections.  Media analysts say this is not surprising 
as most of AP's major media is visibly split into different 
camps - either in favor of or against a particular party. 
 
¶10.  Longtime TDP supporter and media tycoon Ramoji Rao owns 
both `Eenadu,' AP's largest circulation Telugu-language 
newspaper, and `ETV,' the most widely watched Telugu-language 
news channel.  To counter what was widely seen as open 
campaigning by the media against the Congress in the last 
election, YSR launched his own Telugu daily `Sakshi' and Telugu 
TV news channel `Sakshi TV' with his son (and Congress candidate 
for MP from the `family seat' in Kuddapah) as Chairman and CEO 
of the group media.  Chiranjeevi is part-owner of the popular 
family channel `MAA TV.' He cancelled the planned launch of the 
24-hour Telugu news station `MAA News' just weeks before the 
first round of polling.  The average voter is well aware of 
these various affiliations and so the media campaigns by each of 
the outlets were largely ignored by the public. 
 
¶11.  Increasingly voters in this state, known as a center of 
Information Technology, are tuning out traditional media and 
getting their news via the internet - or to be more specific on 
their mobile phones.  To tap into this burgeoning space 
campaigns quickly contracted with mobile service providers to 
inaugurate mass SMS and text message campaigns.  At a cost as 
low as 10 paisa (USD .002) per message, the medium quickly 
became crowded and many local residents reported receiving as 
many as two or three SMS ads every day.  Complaints about 
negative campaigning via this medium soon arose and on May 4 the 
Election Commission decided to prohibit the use of the medium to 
make unsubstantiated allegations that slander either a party or 
an individual candidate.  Dr. Padmaja Shaw, Head, Department of 
Communication and Journalism at Osmania University, noted that 
`campaigns lost a tremendous opportunity by not using SMS 
properly.  The messages quickly became a nuisance - particularly 
for the educated class' and may actually have depressed turnout. 
 
------------------ 
Youth Stay at Home 
------------------ 
 
¶12.  Approximately 30 percent of potential voters are youth - 
 
HYDERABAD 00000055  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
loosely defined as 18 to 30 years old - and the importance of 
the youth vote was much talked about in this election cycle. 
However, in the 2004 national election only 50 percent of urban 
youth voted, which was 8 percent below the national average. 
This demographic generally cited corruption and the difficulty 
with the voter registration process as the principal reasons for 
their disinterest.  In the months prior to the 2009 election 
only 25 percent were registered to vote. 
 
¶13.  To address these issues numerous grassroots campaigns 
sprang up after the Mumbai attacks to encourage youth to 
register and vote.  Media reports about these campaigns 
highlighted use of a variety of hi-tech outreach efforts to 
attract new voters, including SMS campaigns, social networking 
sites, blogs, and promotional and educational videos on popular 
sites.  However, despite the popularity of YouTube and Orkut 
(India's Facebook equivalent), surprisingly few groups had 
official websites or registered their websites with search 
engines such as Google or Yahoo.  Of those groups that did have 
a web presence, most consisted of only a single page which 
listed email addresses.  Emails sent to these websites 
requesting information on how to register only rarely received a 
response and phone numbers went unanswered.  Even `Young 
Tarang,' the youth voter drive initiated by the Election 
Commission in Hyderabad, had no internet presence and their 
registration drive lasted a mere six days. 
 
¶14.  Interestingly, some political analysts question whether 
youth involvement in politics really matters.  The Center for 
the Study of Developing Societies completed a major study on the 
attitudes of Indian youth and concluded that age matters 
considerably less in determining voting behavior than does 
caste, locality or gender.  The study appears to show that 
Indian youth generally follow the trends of their socio-economic 
group, not their age group. 
 
-------------- 
Women Come Out 
-------------- 
 
¶15.  The large scale turnout of women at polling booths, 
especially during the second phase of polling, accounts for the 
record number of votes cast in many constituencies, according to 
many analysts.  An April 30 report in The Hindu showed that 
almost 4 percent more women voted in AP than during the last 
election cycle.  Asked why he thought women turned out in such 
high numbers, Chiranjeevi cited the large numbers of women in 
his fan clubs and quickly asserted, `It is me only.'  However, 
all the parties actively courted women voters and there were no 
indications that they tilted heavily in favor of one of the 
parties. 
 
---------------------------------- 
The Arithmetic of Future Elections 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  COMMENT: The large voter turnout in the state may portend 
the emergence of a new vote bank arithmetic that will decide 
future elections in AP.  What that exactly will be is still far 
from clear, but local politicians will continue to focus on 
regional to the exclusion of national issues.  The parties will 
primarily use the center and any influence there to finance the 
large development and social welfare programs they promised to 
their constituents.  END COMMENT. 
KEUR