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TDP emerges winner despite losses

Shireen in Hyderabad

The ruling Telugu Desam Party has secured an absolute majority in the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly with its tally of 180 seats in the 294-member House. The TDP's electoral ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has bagged 12 seats.

The Congress also has improved its strength almost three-fold to 90 from a meagre 27 in the outgoing assembly. The CPI-M managed to get only two seats, while the CPI drew a blank.

The Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen improved its tally to four, while five independents have emerged victorious.

Though the Congress performance appears impressive, the party has suffered a setback in its bid to wrest power from the TDP.

The BJP has gained substantially from its poll understanding with the TDP by gaining 12 seats, as against its inconsequential presence of two members in the outgoing assembly.

In a way, the BJP strength in the new assembly is a record in its 19-year-history in Andhra Pradesh.

In 1985 the BJP had won eight assembly seats thanks to its alliance with the TDP. In 1989, its strength came down to five but the party could get only three seats in 1994 when it contested on its own. One seat was lost by the party in a by-election in Metpalli.

More stunning has been the near-rout of the two Communist parties. It was for the first time in 15 years that the CPI and CPI-M had contested the polls on their own, without seat adjustments with the TDP.

The CPI and CPI-M had won 19 and 15 seats respectively in 1994 when it had an electoral alliance with the TDP. This time, however, their performance has been disastrous.

The CPI could not retain any of the 18 seats held by it in the outgoing assembly. The CPI-M, on the other hand, managed to retain only two of the 15 seats it held in the outgoing House. The CPI had contested 46 seats and the CPI-M had fielded its candidates on 48 seats.

The two left parties this time fought together and they had seat adjustments with Anna-TDP led by Nandamuri Harikrishna, son of TDP founder-patriarch late N T Rama Rao.

The ATDP failed to open its account though it contested 187 assembly seats. Harikrishna himself lost from Gudivada, his family constituency in Krishna district.

NTR's second wife Lakshmi Parvathi too failed to win from Sompeta and Eluru where had shifted from Pathapatnam constituency which she represented in the outgoing House.

Among the other parties, the Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen has been a gainer. Its rival faction, the Majlis Bachao Tahreek, on the other hand, lost the one seat it held in the outgoing assembly when its president and five-term MLA Mohammed Amanullah Khan was trounced by the MIM in Chandrayangutta.

The final party position were as follows: Elections held for 293 seats. Telugu Desam Party: 180 seats; BJP: 12 ; Congress: 90; MIM: 4; CPI-M: 2 and Independents: five.

UNI

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