A self-proclaimed fan page of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Facebook was left red-faced after an online poll it conducted on who would be the next Chief Minister, did not turn out the way they expected it to.
The poll was created on Tuesday, with the page asking people who they supported in the upcoming election. While the page, which was openly anti-YSRCP expected Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to win, that was not the case.
A total of 14,300 people reportedly cast their votes for Jagan, giving him a close victory with 51% of the votes, over 49% of the votes that Naidu received.
When the poll ended, the page seemingly deleted the results from its timeline. It is suspected that several YSRCP supporters were directed to the poll, which was public, and asked to vote.
The political war between the two parties in the state often spills over online and on social media like Facebook and Twitter. The Andhra Pradesh police has repeatedly detained pro-YSRCP citizens for their 'insulting' posts against the TDP and Naidu.
In August last year, the Chittoor police arrested 30-year-old Basavaraju from Kaliganuru village of Santhipuram mandal, for morphing pictures of Naidu and Andhra IT Minister Nara Lokesh.
The accused was reportedly running a page titled 'YSRCP unofficial' and was also spreading content on WhatsApp.
In May, the Visakhapatnam police picked up a Bengaluru-based software professional, Ippala Ravindra, for posting objectionable comments on Facebook against TDP MLA V Anitha.
Many people claimed that Ravindra was on the YSRCP's payroll, as his page was filled with material that supported the party and YS Jagan. However, the party denied the allegations.
In April, the Andhra Pradesh police conducted searches at YSRCP's party headquarters, at Lotus Pond in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills.
This came a few hours after they released Inturi Ravikiran, who was detained for an offensive social media post on the Facebook page 'Political Punch'.
The searches triggered off a political storm, even as the police maintained that the searches were conducted based on a complaint lodged by Andhra Assembly secretary Satyarayana.