It is an agonising wait for the contenders to the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Visakhapatnam district as they find ways to kill time before their fate is announced on May 23.
While some have left for undisclosed destinations, many are spending time with family and friends, consulting psephologists and astrologers or going on a pilgrimage. Incidentally, some of the candidates have started settling accounts for the expenditure incurred during the hectic campaigning period.
"I have been asked by my party to campaign for friendly parties in Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Delhi where elections are being held in several phases," former Union Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo told The Hindu. He is in the fray as a TDP candidate for Araku Parliamentary Constituency.
Unlike other candidates, Jana Sena Party nominee for Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, V.V. Lakshminarayana, has been interacting with various sections of people andhas been undertaking an extensive tour of the constituency.
YSRCP’s contestant for Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, M.V.V. Satyanarayana, visited Tirumala with his family immediately after the elections. Now, he is said to be devoting time to hand over his real estate business to his son. He announced before the elections that he would quit his business if he is elected as an MP.
BJP’s Daggubati Purandeswari has preferred to spend time with her family and is campaigning for the party in States where elections are due.
Minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, who is seeking re-election from Narsipatnam Assembly segment, is on a trip to Singapore and other countries with his friends. His ministerial colleague and candidate for Visakha North Assembly seat, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, has gone to Bengaluru.
"I have not gone anywhere. I am only spending time with my supporters and people of the constituency," said Setti Phalguna, bank officer-turned-YSRCP candidate for Araku Assembly seat.