2012 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly by-election

2012 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly by-election

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Vacant 25 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Majority party Minority party   Leader Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Party YSRCP INC Leader since 2011 2010 Leader's seat Did not contest [a] Did not contest [b] Seats before 0 20 [c] Seats won 16 2 Seat change 16 18   Third party Fourth party   Leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao N. Chandrababu Naidu Party TRS TDP Leader since 2001 1995 Leader's seat Did not contest [d] Did not contest [e] Seats before 0 4 Seats won 5 0 Seat change 5 4
Chief Minister before election N. Kiran Kumar Reddy INC Chief Minister after election N. Kiran Kumar Reddy INC

The 2012 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly by-election was held from March to June 2012 in three phases to fill vacancies to the 25 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, following the death, resignation and disqualification of the incumbent members.

Background

Following the 2009 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was sworn in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh but died shortly thereafter in a helicopter crash. His death, along with the intensifying Telangana movement, contributed to a period of political instability in the state. His son, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy later fell out with the Indian National Congress (INC) and formed the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Many MLAs in the Andhra region left the INC to join YSRCP, while in the Telangana region, several MLAs joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in demand for a separate state. These mass defections led to disqualifications, leaving assembly seats vacant and necessitating by-elections, which were held on 10 March 2012 for 1 seat, on 18 March 2012 for 6 seats and on 12 June 2012 for 18 seats. ^[1]

Campaign

The enforcement authorities seized approximately Rs. 32 crores in cash and gold valued around Rs. 9 crore, taking the total to Rs. 41 crore. ^[2] Nearly 1.74 lakh litres of liquor were confiscated during the campaign period. The reported total exceeded the amount seized during the 2009 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. ^{[3] [4]}

On 27 May 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in connection with alleged disproportionate assets and corruption charges. ^[5] The CBI alleged that Jagan had received investments from various companies in return for granting undue favours during the tenure of his father, Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy as Chief Minister of the state from 2004 to 2009. ^{[6] [7] [8]} Following his arrest, Jagan was remanded to judicial custody and lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail, Hyderabad. ^[9] His bail petitions were rejected multiple times. ^{[10] [11]}

With Jagan in judicial custody, the party's campaign was led by his mother Y. S. Vijayamma and his sister Y. S. Sharmila. Sharmila addressed multiple public meetings across constituencies, appealing to voters on grounds of perceived injustice and continuity of her father's welfare activities. ^[12]

Public sentiment during the by-election varied regionally, with voters in the Telangana region focused on the demand for a seperate state, while in the Andhra region, the arrest of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was an electoral factor.

Results

The result for the first and second phase of the by-election was declared on 21 March 2012. For the first time, 3G technology was used to upload polling and counting data to the internet more quickly, with the counting process recorded using the web cameras. ^[13] The TRS won 4 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party, the YSRCP and an independent candidate won one seat each.

The third phase result was declared on 15 June 2012, the YSRCP emerged as the largest winner, winning 15 of the 18 contested seats. The INC won 2 seats, increasing its majority to 154 seats in the 294 member Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The TRS won one seat and the Telugu Desam Party drew blank. Notably, all the incumbent members who had resigned and re-contested were re-elected in both phases.

Following the declaration of the results, Y. S. Sharmila stated that her brother Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was then in judicial custody in connection with corruption charges, should become the Chief Minister in 2014. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy subsequently held meetings with party leaders and legislators to review the results. ^[14]

Results by constituency

District	Constituency		Winner					Runner Up					Margin
	No.	Name	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
Adilabad	7	Adilabad	Jogu Ramanna		TRS	59,452	49.34	C. Ram Chandra Reddy		INC	28,056	23.28	31,396
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Jogu Ramanna from Telugu Desam Party as MLA.
Nizamabad	16	Kamareddy	Gampa Govardhan		TRS	75,699	55.23	Adla Raja Reddy		INC	31,234	22.79	44,465
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Gampa Govardhan from Telugu Desam Party as MLA.
Mahbubnagar	74	Mahbubnagar	Yennam Srinivas Reddy		BJP	39,385	31.51	Ibrahim Syed		TRS	37,506	30.01	1,879
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the death of the incumbent member N. Rajeshwar Reddy, who was an Independent on 30 October 2011. [15]
	81	Nagarkurnool	Nagam Janardhan Reddy		IND	71,001	50.55	Kuchakulla Damoder Reddy		INC	43,676	31.09	27,325
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Nagam Janardhan Reddy from Telugu Desam Party as MLA.
	85	Kollapur	Jupally Krishna Rao		TRS	58,107	38.47	Mamillapally Vishnuvardhan Reddy		INC	43,083	28.53	15,024
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Jupally Krishna Rao from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Warangal	99	Ghanpur Station (SC)	T. Rajaiah		TRS	81,279	47.84	Kadiyam Srihari		TDP	48,641	28.63	32,638
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member T. Rajaiah from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Nellore	235	Kovur	Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy		YSRCP	73,876	42.00	Somireddy Chandra Mohan Reddy		TDP	50,382	28.64	23,494
			Bypoll held on 18 March 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy from Telugu Desam Party as MLA.
Warangal	104	Parkal	M. Bikshpathi		TRS	51,936	33.05	Konda Surekha		YSRCP	50,374	32.05	1,562
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Konda Surekha from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Srikakulam	127	Narasannapeta	Dharmana Krishna Das		YSRCP	54,454	38.96	Dharmana Rama Das		INC	47,412	33.73	7,312
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Dharmana Krishna Das from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Visakhapatnam	152	Payakaraopet (SC)	Golla Babu Rao		YSRCP	71,963	41.88	Changala Venkata Rao		TDP	57,601	33.53	14,362
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Golla Babu Rao from Indian National Congress as MLA.
East Godavari	161	Ramachandrapuram	Thota Trimurthulu		INC	77,292	49.93	Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose		YSRCP	65,373	42.23	11,919
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose from Indian National Congress as MLA.
West Godavari	177	Narasapuram	Kothapalli Subbarayudu		INC	58,368	46.96	Mudunuri Prasada Raju		YSRCP	53,896	43.36	4,472
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Mudunuri Prasada Raju from Indian National Congress as MLA.
	186	Polavaram (ST)	Tellam Balaraju		YSRCP	80,790	53.87	B. S. Rao		TDP	45,023	30.02	35,767
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Tellam Balaraju from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Guntur	212	Prathipadu (Guntur) (SC)	Mekathoti Sucharitha		YSRCP	87,742	48.84	Kandukuri Veeraiah		TDP	70,961	39.50	16,781
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Mekathoti Sucharitha from Indian National Congress as MLA.
	220	Macherla	Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy		YSRCP	79,751	46.67	Chirumamilla Madhu Babu		TDP	64,272	37.61	15,479
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Prakasam	227	Ongole	Balineni Srinivasa Reddy		YSRCP	77,222	48.80	Damacharla Janardhana Rao		TDP	49,819	31.48	27,403
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Balineni Srinivasa Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Nellore	242	Udayagiri	Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy		YSRCP	75,103	46.82	Bollineni Venkata Ramarao		TDP	44,505	27.74	30,598
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Kadapa	244	Rajampet	Akepati Amarnath Reddy		YSRCP	76,951	52.49	Meda Venkata Mallikarjuna Reddy		INC	38,732	26.42	38,219
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Akepati Amarnath Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Kadapa	246	Kodur (SC)	Koramutla Sreenivasulu		YSRCP	66,456	53.80	E. Kanuparthi		INC	34,465	27.90	31,991
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Koramutla Sreenivasulu from Indian National Congress as MLA.
	247	Rayachoty	Gadikota Srikanth Reddy		YSRCP	90,978	57.15	Sugavasi Subramanyam		TDP	34,087	21.41	56,891
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Gadikota Srikanth Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Kurnool	253	Allagadda	Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy		YSRCP	88,697	52.68	G. Prathap Reddy		INC	51,902	30.83	36,795
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy from Praja Rajyam Party, upon merger with the Indian National Congress as MLA.
	263	Yemmiganur	K. Chennakesava Reddy		YSRCP	64,155	42.07	B. V. Mohan Reddy		TDP	44,052	28.89	20,103
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member K. Chennakesava Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Anantapur	267	Rayadurg	Kapu Ramachandra Reddy		YSRCP	79,171	46.34	D. R. Gunapati		TDP	46,695	27.33	32,476
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Kapu Ramachandra Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
	272	Anantapur Urban	Bodimalla Gurunatha Reddy		YSRCP	65,719	52.90	M. Sreenivasulu		TDP	40,980	32.98	24,739
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Bodimalla Gurunatha Reddy from Indian National Congress as MLA.
Chittoor	286	Tirupati	Bhumana Karunakar Reddy		YSRCP	59,195	43.29	M. Venkararamana		INC	41,220	30.14	17,975
			Bypoll held on 12 June 2012 following the resignation of the incumbent member Konidela Chiranjeevi from Praja Rajyam Party, upon merger with the Indian National Congress as MLA.

Analysis

The Hindu read this as possibly predictive of the 2014 general election. It also said that while the YSRCP was the favourite, there was a keen eye on who would finish second between the INC and the TDP. ^[16] Rediff headlined the result as the "fledgling YSR Congress party...has swept the by-elections in Andhra Pradesh, denting the last bastion of Congress in south." It also pointed out that the loss of Tirupati was significant as it was the home district of the INC Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and had previously been won by Chiranjeevi before his resignation to seek a Rajya Sabha seat. ^[17] The Economic Times referred to the YSRCP's successful result as "riding on the sympathy wave in the wake of its leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's arrest", ^[18] and the Hindustan Times had a similar assessment. ^[19]

Notes

1. Incumbent member of the Lok Sabha from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency.
2. Incumbent member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Pileru Assembly constituency.
3. Including two seats form the Praja Rajyam Party, which merged into the Indian National Congress in 2011.
4. Incumbent member of the Lok Sabha from the Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency.
5. Incumbent member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Kuppam Assembly constituency.

References

1. IANS (15 June 2012). "Jagan's YSR Congress wins Nellore Lok Sabha, 14 assembly seats". Times of India . Retrieved 15 June 2012.
2. IANS (6 June 2012). "It is raining cash in Andhra Pradesh bypolls". India Today. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
3. "Record 32 crore in cash seized ahead of Andhra Pradesh elections". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
4. archive, From our online (2 June 2012). "Rs 11 lakh cash seized ahead of bypolls". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
5. "Jagan Mohan Reddy arrested by CBI after three days of questioning in assets case". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
6. "Jagan Mohan Reddy cannot 'masquerade' as victim, claims CBI in court". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
7. archive, From our online (16 May 2012). "CBI says Jagan, YSR co-conspirators". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
8. "CBI arrests Jaganmohan Reddy in disproportionate assets case". The Times of India. 27 May 2012. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 14 February 2026.
9. "Arrested Indian MP Jagan Mohan Reddy remanded". BBC News. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
10. "Assets case: Jagan's bail plea rejected". The Hindu. 28 November 2012. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 14 February 2026.
11. PTI (29 November 2012). "Jagan Mohan Reddy's bail plea rejected". India Today. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
12. "Stage set for crucial A.P. by-elections". The Hindu. 11 June 2012. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 14 February 2026.
13. TNN (21 March 2012). "By-election results today". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
14. "Election results: Jagan sweeps polls; will be Chief Minister in 2014, predicts sister". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
15. "Mahabubnagar MLA dead". The Hindu. 31 October 2011. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 14 February 2026.
16. "By-election results today". The Hindu . 15 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
17. Mohammed Siddique (15 June 2012). "Jagan DECIMATES Congress, TDP in Andhra by-polls". Rediff.com. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
18. "YSR Congress bags 8 assembly seats, leading in 7". The Economic Times. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.^{[ dead link ]}
19. Ashok Das (15 June 2012). "AP: Cong on back foot as Jagan sweeps byelections". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.