In a state that is facing a multi-cornered fight these elections, the new entrant Praja Santhi Party (PSP) of evangelist Dr KA Paul is confusing the voters with names of candidates and the party symbol and other paraphernalia similar to that of YSR Congress party. While the PSP says its coincidence the YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s party is crying foul and alleging TDP’s role behind the massive confusion.

KA Paul has fielded 39 candidates with almost identical names that sound similar to that of YSRCP candidates in few segments. Out of the 39, 35 of them are assembly candidates. For instance, the names of Praja Shanti’s Assembly candidate Bonthu Rajeswara Rao from Razolu constituency and name of Venkateswara Rao Kodali from Gudivada are identical to that of YSRCP. In seven cases, there is only the difference of initial between them which can totally confuse the voter.

The YSRCP which earlier has objected to the green blue and white colour background of the PSP also has reservations about the helicopter symbol of the PSP. From a distance, the symbols, flags, scarf’s, and banners look similar. The party representatives met the Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and made a complaint along with the list of similar looking names. YSRCP Spokesperson said that the party believes the PSP is intentionally doing the mischief in an effort to confuse the voters who will have only a few seconds to look to identify and press the button of the EVM.

Similar confusion occurred in the past with the TRS car symbol and Samajwadi Forward Bloc's Truck symbols. The TRS has already urged the EC to allocate them a car symbol that is clear and more modern than the old Ambassador, keeping in mind the current trend. Meanwhile, the YSRC had demanded that EC takes immediate action against PSP and take steps to avoid confusion among voters over candidate names.

              Few Confusing Names

Constituency                Candidate name- Party

Razole (Assembly)         Bonthu Rajeswara Rao (YSRCP)/ Bonthu Rajeswara Rao (PSP)

Gudivada (A)                  Venkateswara Rao Kodali- YSRCP/ Venkateswara Rao Kodali (PSP)

Dharmavaram (A)          Kethireddy Venkatrami Reddy (YSRCP)/ P Venkatrami Reddy (PSP)

Pedakurapadu (A)         Sankara Rao Nambu (YSRCP)/ Namburi Sankara Rao (PSP)

Parchur (A)                   Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (YSRCP)/ Daggubatti Venkateswarlu (PSP)

Kaikalur (A)                   Dulam Nageswara Rao (YSRCP)/ Dasi Nageswara Rao (PSP)

Ongole (LS)                  Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy (YSRCP)/ Srinivasa Reddy Maram (PSP)

Nellore (LS)                  Adala Prabhakara Reddy (YSRCP)/ Amancharla Prabhakar (PSP)