Landslide Victory To The Opposition In A P Assembly Elections

Left Parties Win In 16 Constituencies

M Venugopala Rao

IN the elections held to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, the people have inflicted a crushing defeat on the TDP-BJP combine by electing the opposition parties with a thumping majority. In the 294-member House, the Left parties have made impressive gains by winning 16 seats- the CPI(M) in 9, the CPI in 6 and the CPI(ML) New Democracy in one seat. The Congress has gained almost two-thirds majority winning 187 seats and its ally the Telangana Rashtra Samithi has gained majority in 26 constituencies.

It is a humiliating defeat to the ruling TDP, with 28 out of the 36 Ministers (including the Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu) who contested getting defeated and the party totally routed in Khammam, Nizamabad, Nellore and Medak districts and winning only one seat each in Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts. The TDP could manage to win in 47 constituencies only, while its ally; the BJP has won in just two constituencies. The remaining seats are captured by other opposition parties and independents.

It is a clear verdict against the World Bank inspired reform process set in motion by the Chandrababu government, affecting the interests of different sections of people and imposing substantial burdens on them over the years. The sweep of public resentment is so strong that the ruling parties in the State and at the Centre received a severe drubbing in the hands of the electorate at the hustings for all their anti-people policies, misdeeds, scandals and corruption. It will be a repeat performance in the Lok Sabha elections also, with a double anti-incumbency factor working strongly against the TDP and the BJP. The relentless and persistent efforts made and agitations led by the opposition parties, especially by the Left parties and the CPI(M) in particular, against the World Bank inspired reform process and anti-people policies and exposing their disastrous consequences, have galvanised the popular forces and paved the way for the popular verdict.

While the strength of the ruling TDP has decreased to 47 from 179 in the dissolved Assembly and its ally the BJP to 2 from 12 seats, that of the congress increased from 90 to 187 seats. The CPI(M) has increased its strength from two to 9 and the CPI from zero to 6 seats, while the CPI(ML) New Democracy retained its lone seat. The CPI has contested in 12 constituencies, while the CPI(ML) New Democracy contested in 14 constituencies.

Against the 15 seats the CPI(M) has contested, it has won in the following constituencies: