How YSR won Andhra battle............

A day before Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi launched his Praja Rajyam Party on August 26 last year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy made the moves that would eight months later deliver a stunning victory to the Congress in the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

With elections less than eight months away, the matinee idol’s raging popularity could mean a formidable political foe for the Congress. That was not YSR’s only worry. His main rival, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, was already making the moves to stitch together an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Left parties. “He foresaw that the party could lose its grip if he let Chiranjeevi and the TDP run the show. A quiet warning went to MLAs who were neglecting their constituencies to either perform or face the axe. Not getting enough support from a worn-out Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the Chief Minister also took it upon himself to popularise the various government schemes for the poor. He emphasised that come what may, the Congress had to stay one step ahead,” says Congress leader Dr Tulasi Reddy.

YSR also drew strength from his son Jagan Mohan, a successful industrialist and managing editor of Telugu daily Sakshi, and a few confidants like Rajya Sabha MP KVP Ramachandra Murthy, and ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Savita Indra Reddy and K Rosaiah. Rosaiah, the Finance Minister, never flinched whenever YSR demanded more funds for the government’s many schemes that included Rs 2-per-kg rice, free medical treatment for BPL families, free power to farmers, pension scheme for widows and the most popular ‘Indiramma’ free housing scheme.

YSR returns to power on pro-poor schemes, fans don’t vote for PRP

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy led the Congress to a second consecutive win on Saturday in Andhra Pradesh. Riding on pro-poor and populist schemes, the Congress retained power with a simple majority by winning 157 seats. The TDP-led Grand Alliance won 106 seats — 91 (TDP), four (CPI), one (CPM) and 10 (TRS).

Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party managed to win 18 seats. The BJP won two, AIMIM seven, and rebels and Independents won four seats.

The tie-up with the TRS and the Left proved to be disastrous for the TDP, as the TRS won in only 10 of the 45 seats it contested while the CPI and CPI(M) won only five of the 30 seats they contested.

Belying its own expectations and amidst predictions of a hung Assembly, the Congress rode back to power on the strength of its populist schemes, particularly the Rs 2 per kg rice, free power to farm sector, and Rajiv Arogya Shree free health care programme for the poor. The single most important factor that aided the Congress appears to be the half-a-dozen schemes implemented by the Government in the last five years. The party swept the Rayalaseema region and retained its hold over coastal Andhra.

The TDP, which was reduced to 47 seats in 2004 election, regained a lot of lost ground but could not break the Congress's surge. There were doubts in the Congress camp that it may lose its share of votes to the PRP in the nine districts of coastal Andhra. However, against all expectations, the Congress won 68 of the 124 seats in these districts. The party swept the four districts of Rayalaseema winning 32 of the 52 seats. In Telangana, the Congress won 57 of the 119 seats in 10 districts. The PRP failed to make any impact in East Godavari (four seats), West Godavari (one seat), Krishna (0), and Srikakulam (0) districts where it was expected to consolidate itself.

Cong wins 34 of the 42 seats in Andhra, TDP gets only 6

The Congress delivered a bonanza to the UPA by winning 34 of the 42 Parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP performed dismally, winning only six seats, while the TRS won only two. Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM won from Hyderabad for the second time. The Praja Rajyam Party, BJP and Left parties failed to win even a single seat. Aided by populist schemes, the Congress wrested even traditional strongholds of the TDP like Srikukulam where TDP politburo member and three-time MP K Yerran Naidu was defeated by Congress’ K K Rani.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy won the Kadapa seat.

Minister of State for Women Development and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdary lost from Khammam Lok Sabha seat. She was defeated by Nama Nageswara Rao of the TDP by 120,000 votes. Renuka had defeated Rao in 2004 polls by over 100,000 votes.

The four other Central ministers from Andhra Pradesh were re-elected. Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy won from Chevella, Minister of State for Human Resources D Purandareswari won from Visakhapatnam, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pannabaka Lakshmi from Bapatla and Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju was re-elected from Kakinada. Jaipal Reddy was elected from the newly-created Chevella Lok Sabha seat by over 25,000 votes.

“We won because people were on our side. It was our alliance with the people,” said Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, taking a dig at the grand alliance led by the TDP.