Elections in Andhra Pradesh

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Andhra Pradesh in India IN-AP.svg
Andhra Pradesh in India

Elections in Andhra Pradesh are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Andhra Pradesh creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India. In addition, the state legislature may be dismissed by the Parliament according to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and President's rule may be imposed.

Contents

Electoral system

In 2014, Andhra Pradesh (Total 294 seats) was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh (175 seats) and Telangana (119 seats) states.

National level

Lok Sabha

Andhra Pradesh is represented by a total of 25 MP's in the Lok Sabha. From the total of 25 seats, 20 belong to the general category candidates and the other 5 are reserved for the SC/ST category. In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, out of 25 seats, National Democratic Alliance won 21 seats, while Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party managed to win 4 seats. [1]

Rajya Sabha

Both houses of the state legislature jointly nominate Members to the Rajya Sabha.

State level

Legislative Assembly

The Andhra Pradesh legislature assembly has 175 seats. For the election of its members, the state is divided into 175 Assembly Constituencies in which the candidate securing the largest number of votes is declared elected.

Legislative Council

The Upper House known as the Legislative Council has lesser powers than the Assembly and several of its members are nominated by the Assembly; others are elected from various sections of society, such as Graduates and Teachers. Currently the Legislative Council consists of 58 members.

Electoral history

The first general elections were conducted in Andhra state in 1955, for 196 constituencies representing 11 Districts. In 1956, the United Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly had 294 seats representing 23 districts. From 1956 to 1958 the United Andhra Pradesh Legislature was Unicameral and from 1958 when the council was formed the Legislative Council was abolished and the United Andhra Pradesh Legislature became Unicameral once again, until March 2007 when it was re-established and elections were held for its seats as per The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Bill, 2004. [2] From 2014 there are 175 constituencies in Andhra Legislative Assembly and 58 constituencies Andhra Legislative Council.

Main political parties

Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP), YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM).

General (Lok Sabha) elections

Lok Sabha

(Election)

Total seats1st party2nd party3rd partyOther party
PartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeatsPartySeats
1st [lower-alpha 1]
( 1951 )		28 Indian National Congress 6 Communist Party of India 6 Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party 2 Socialist Party 2 IND 1212
2nd
( 1957 )		4337
3rd
( 1962 )		4334 Communist Party of India 7 Swatantra Party 1 IND 11–
4th
( 1967 )		4135 Swatantra Party 3 IND 22– Communist Party of India 1
5th
( 1971 )		4128 Telangana Praja Samithi 10 Communist Party of India 1 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1 IND 11–
6th
( 1977 )		42 Indian National Congress (R) 411–
7th
( 1980 )		4242–
8th
( 1984 )		42 Telugu Desam Party 31 Indian National Congress 6
9th
( 1989 )		42 Indian National Congress 39 Telugu Desam Party 2 All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1–
10th
( 1991 )		422513 Communist Party of India 1 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1 Bharatiya Janata Party 1 All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1–
11th
( 1996 )		4222162– CPI(M) 11
12th
( 1998 )		422212 Bharatiya Janata Party 4– Communist Party of India 2
13th
( 1999 )		42 Telugu Desam Party 29 Bharatiya Janata Party 7 Indian National Congress 5– All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1
14th
( 2004 		42 Indian National Congress 29 Telugu Desam Party 5 Telangana Rashtra Samithi 2 Communist Party of India 1 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1 All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1–
15th
( 2009 )		42336 Telangana Rashtra Samithi 2– All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1
16th
( 2014 )		25 Telugu Desam Party 15 YSR Congress Party 8 Bharatiya Janata Party 2
17th
( 2019 )		25 YSR Congress Party 22 Telugu Desam Party 3
18th
( 2024 )		25 Telugu Desam Party 16 YSR Congress Party 4 Jana Sena Party 3 Bharatiya Janata Party 2

Assembly elections

Andhra (1953–1956)

YearElectionChief MinisterPartyParty-wise seats detailsOpposition Leader
1955 First Assembly Bezawada Gopala Reddy (Congress)Total: 196. Congress: 119
CPI: 15, Independents: 8		 Puchalapalli Sundarayya

Andhra Pradesh (1956–present)

YearElectionChief MinisterPartyParty-wise seats detailsOpposition Leader
1957 First Assembly Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Damodaram Sanjivayya (Congress)INC 68; PDF 22; Independent 12; Total 105 Puchalapalli Sundarayya
1962 Second Assembly Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy 		(Congress)Total: 300. Congress: 177
CPI: 51, Swatantra Party: 19, Independents: 51		 Puchalapalli Sundarayya
1967 Third Assembly Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
P.V. Narasimha Rao 		(Congress)Total: 287. Congress: 165
Swatantra Party: 29, CPM: 9,CPI: 11, BJS : 3, RPI: 1, SSP: 1, Independents: 68		 T. Nagi Reddy
1972 Fourth Assembly P.V. Narasimha Rao
Jalagam Vengala Rao 		(Congress)Congress: 219/287, Independents: 57.Vacant
1978 Fifth Assembly Marri Chenna Reddy
T. Anjaiah
Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy
Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy 		Congress(Indira)Total: 294. INC(I)+Congress: 205, Janata Party: 60, Ind: 15. Gouthu Latchanna
1983 Sixth Assembly Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao
Nadendla Bhaskara Rao 		(Telugu Desam)
(Rebel TDP Group)		Total: 294. Telugu Desam: Approx 205.
Congress: 60, BJP: 3, CPI: 4, CPM: 5.		 Mogaligundla Baga Reddy
1985 Seventh Assembly Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (2) Telugu Desam Party Total: 294. TDP: 202, Congress: 50
BJP: 8, Janata Party: 3, CPI: 11, CPM: 11		 Mogaligundla Baga Reddy
1989 Eighth Assembly M Chenna Reddy (2)
Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy
Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy (2)		CongressTotal: 294. Congress: 181, TDP: 74. N T Rama Rao
1994 Ninth Assembly Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (3)
Nara Chandrababu Naidu 		Telugu Desam PartyTotal: 294. TDP: 216, Congress: 26, CPI: 19, CPM: 15, BJP: 3 P. Janardhan Reddy
1999 Tenth Assembly Nara Chandrababu Naidu (2)(Telugu Desam Party)Total: 294. TDP+BJP: 180+10 = 190, Congress: 91 Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
2004 Eleventh Assembly Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy CongressTotal: 294. Congress: 185, TDP: 47, TRS: 26, CPM:9, CPI:6, MIM:4,BJP:2, BSP:1 Nara Chandrababu Naidu
2009 Twelfth Assembly Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (2)
Konijeti Rosaiah
Kiran Kumar Reddy 		CongressTotal: 294. Congress: 156. TDP: 92, Praja Rajyam Party: 18, TRS: 10. Nara Chandrababu Naidu
2014 Thirteenth Assembly Nara Chandrababu Naidu TDPTotal: 175. TDP: 102. BJP:4 ;
YSR Congress: 67		 Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy
2019 Fourteenth Assembly Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy YSRCPTotal: 175. YSR Congress:151,
TDP: 23, JSP:1.		 Nara Chandrababu Naidu
2024 Fifteenth Assembly Nara Chandrababu Naidu TDPTotal: 175. TDP: 135,
JSP:21,BJP:8, YSR Congress:11.		 Vacant

Performance of Political Parties

951
INCTDPYSRCP
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Political Party 1955 1957 1962 1967 1972 1978 1983 1985 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
INC 119681771652193060501812691185156000
JP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCP601300000M/DNCP
BJP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP38531222408
CPI 150511176611819064000
CPI(M) NCPNCP CPI 918511615291000
TDP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP20120274216180479210223135
TRS NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP TDP 2610NCPNCP
AIMIM NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP41447NCPNCP
PRP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP18 INC NCP
LSP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP1NC [lower-alpha 2] NC
YSRCP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCP INC 67 [lower-alpha 3] 15111
JSP NCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNCPNC [lower-alpha 4] 121
Independents [lower-alpha 5] 22135168571500150503100
Others402421343175 [lower-alpha 6] 209120150100
Total196105300287287294294294294294294294294175175175
Legend
ParticularRepresentation
Did not exist/Did not contest previouslyNCP
Merger/DissolvedM/D
Split
Debut
Did not contestNC
  1. ↑ 1st general election was conducted in 1952 for the Madras State and the Andhra majority area was still part of it with 28 seats until the formation of Andhra State in the year 1953
  2. ↑ Party is functioning but not into active Politics
  3. ↑ Due to its contesting in By-elections earlier this is not treated as Debut
  4. ↑ Outside support to NDA which included TDP and BJP
  5. ↑ Independents and Others may differ due to lack of differenciation
  6. ↑ All these 175 seats were secured by the INC faction INC(R)

History of political parties

The Indian National Congress (INC) won a majority of seats at the state level continuously from the formation of the state until 1983 when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was formed by Actor N.T.Rama Rao, the first non-Congress government in the state. From 1984 to 2004, the politics of the state was essentially a two party system. The INC regained the state from 1989 to 1994.

The TDP formed the state government from 1994 to 2004. In 2004, the INC formed the government again. [3] This government also completed its second term having won the Assembly elections in 2009. The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) was formed in 2008 by Telugu Film Actor Chiranjeevi; that party won the third largest number of seats in the 2009 state assembly elections and then merged into congress. After the death of the chief minister Y. S. Rajashekar Reddy his son Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy came into the lime light. He has resigned from congress after disputes with congress leadership at center. The TDP forms the principal opposition party in the state assembly during this time.

The state had an ongoing sub-regionalist Telangana movement with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) being formed in 2001 on this platform. And under the leadership of K Chandrashekar Rao separate state of Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Then during next elections TDP had emerged with highest number of seats after fighting the elections with BJP and Pawan Kalyan who was entering politics during that time. Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has formed a new party after resigning from congress named Y. S. R Congress party which was the main opposition from 2014–2019. During this period JanaSena the party of Pawan Kalyan cut ties with TDP due to conflict on special status of Andhra Pradesh which was one of the commitments during the states bifurcation in 2014. Also TDP cut ties with BJP in 2019 for the same reason.

During 2019 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections YSR congress party won with a landslide victory in both elections. Currently TDP is in opposition in the state assembly. JanaSena getting third highest percentage of votes and both BJP and Congress became small parties in Andhra Pradesh

During 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections (total 175) TDP won (135) with a landslide historic victory in both elections. Currently there is no actual opposition in the state assembly since the opposition YSRCP did not secure enough seats (required 18, won 11). JanaSena getting second highest no. of seats (21) and both BJP (8) and Congress (0) became small parties in Andhra Pradesh.

Election Commission

Elections in Andhra Pradesh are conducted by the Election Commission of India whose state level head is the Chief Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, the authority created under the Constitution. It is a well established convention that once the election process commences, no courts intervene until the results are declared by the election commission. During the elections, vast powers are assigned to the election commission to the extent that it can function as a civil court, if needed.

Electoral process

The latest election in Andhra Pradesh were conducted in two phases. [4] All citizens of India above 18 years of age are eligible to enrol as voters in the electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the eligible voters to enrol. Normally, voter registrations are allowed at latest one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.

Pre elections

The Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct enters into force as soon as the notification for polls is issued. This places restrictions on the campaigning by political parties as well as prohibits certain government actions that would unduly influence the election.

Voting day

The electoral process is the same as in the rest of India with Electronic Voting Machines being used for all Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.

Post elections

After the election day, the EVMs are stood stored in a strong room under heavy security. After the different phases of the elections are complete, a day is set to count the votes. The votes are tallied and typically, the verdict is known within hours. The candidate who has mustered the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency.

The party or coalition that has won the most seats is invited by the Governor to form the new government. The coalition or party must prove its majority in the floor of the house (Legislative Assembly) in a vote of confidence by obtaining a simple majority (minimum 50%) of the votes in the House.

Absentee voting

As of now, India does not have an absentee ballot system. Section 19 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA)-1950 allows people to register to vote whore above 18 years of age and an 'ordinary resident' of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer. [5] Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies non-resident Indians (NRI) from getting their name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting a vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures.

The Representation of the People (Amendment) 2006 Bill was introduced in the Parliament by Shri Hanraj Bharadwaj, Minister of Law and Justice during February 2006 with an objective to amend Section 20 of the RPA-1950 to enable NRIs to vote. Despite the report submitted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee two years ago, the Government has so far failed to act on the recommendations. The Bill was reintroduced in the 2008 budget session of the Parliament to the Lok Sabha. But no action taken once again.

Several civic society organisations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system. [6] [7]

Further reading

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "MP (Lok Sabha)". Official portal of Andhra Pradesh Government. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Election Commission India". Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  4. ↑ "Election Commission India". Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  5. ↑ Representation of the People Act-1950 Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Petition for Absentee Voting in Indian Elections Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Non-Resident Indians Voting rights in the upcoming general elections
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