Politics of Andhra Pradesh

Formation of Andhra Pradesh

In December 1953, the States Reorganization Commission was appointed to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. Thus, merging the Telugu speaking regions, the central government, established a unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956 [1].

Congress Era

The Indian National Congress party won all the state elections from the emergence of the state in 1953 till 1983.Projects like Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam Dams were constructed during this time. There were 10 different chief ministers from the formation of the state in 1956 till 1983.

First separate Telangana movement

The Northwest region of the state is called Telangana and includes the capital city of Hyderabad. The influx of the people from the coastal region into the city of Hyderabad and remaining regions of Telangana had created social tensions. Discontent spread among the people of Telangana, officials and unemployed youth who felt that they were exploited by the people of the Andhra region. This resulted in a student of Khammam going on a hunger strike in January 1969 demanding the implementation of the safeguards for Telangana provided in the Gentlemen's Agreement. This agitation spread to Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. In the beginning, the movement demanded the implementation of the safeguards agreed upon earlier, but later it wanted the separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. The agitation took a new turn when the Congress legislators from Telangana supported the movement. Chenna Reddy entered the fray and formed the Telangana Praja Samiti to lead the movement. But in November 1969 there was a major split in the TPS which eventually led to the downfall of the movement.In 1969, Purushothama Rao unveiled Telangana map in the state assembly and he was for outright separation during the 1969 Telangana movement and he supported the student views.[5] In the year 1972, all candidates belonging to STPS under the leadership of M Sridhar Reddy contested the assembly elections, however, only Mr.Purushothama Rao got elected from Wardhannapet constituency of Warangal District and rest were defeated.[6] In September 1971, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, the then Chief Minister, resigned his position to make room for a leader from Telangana to become the Chief Minister. On 30 September 1971, P.V.Narasimha Rao became the Chief Minister. The Telangana Praja Samiti was dissolved and its members rejoined the Congress.

Emergence of Telugu Desam Party

In 1983, N. T. Rama Rao, a popular Telugu actor established his Telugu Desam Party (Telugu Desam, meaning Land of Telugus) with the support of people's dissent arising out of frequent changes in chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on a platform of "Telugu Pride". Within nine months of its founding, Telugu Desam was voted to power and NTR became the first Non-Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

First breakup of the Telugu Desam Party

In August 1984, when NTR was in the United States undergoing heart surgery, the state finance minister Nadendla Bhaskara Rao broke the party and formed the state government with the help of the opposition Congress(I). However his government lasted only 31 days as he did not command a majority in the Assembly. NTR was reinstated to power on September 16, 1984.

Return of the Congress

The Congress returned to power when Marri Chenna Reddy was sworn in for his second term as chief minister on December 3, 1989. The Congress lasted in power until the elections of 1994.

NTR's Second Term

In the elections of 1994, N. T. Rama Rao's Telugu Desam Party ran advocating prohibition in response to a women's movement. He had then recently married his second wife Lakshmi Parvati. NTR's campaign focussed on the rural areas which won him a significant majority in the state elections of 1995.

Second Breakup of the Telugu Desam

When NTR became the Chief minister in 1994, he appointed one of his sons-in-law Nara Chandrababu Naidu as the Revenue Minister. Soon after the formation of the government in response to the growing influence of Lakshmi Parvati on the political decisions of NTR, Chandrababu Naidu convinced a majority of the TDP MLAs to elect him as the chief minister. Since most of the legislators had gone over to his side, the Anti Defection Law did not apply and the Telugu Desam Party label passed on to the Chandrababu Naidu faction. The NTR faction became TDP(NTR). NTR died on January 18, 1996 and Lakshmi Parvati succeeded him as the head of TDP(NTR) which no longer had any representation in the state legislature. Chandrababu Naidu's TDP won the next election of 1999 and was the Chief Minister for 9 years until 2004 when it was defeated by the Indian National Congress whose state leader Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy became the chief minister.

Present situation

2004 Assembly Elections

Under Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Indian National Congress party won the 2004 elections as part of a coalition with TRS. During the run-up to the 2004 elections, Rajasekhar Reddy was able bring a common platform and mutual agreement within the Andhra Pradesh Congress Party. His campaign took form of a three-month-long "padhayatra" or foot-walk. The elections resulted in the defeat of the then-ruling Telugu Desam Party under the leadership of N.Chandrababu Naidu. The congress also won the municipal elections in 2005 and district local body elections in 2006 and also Panchayat Elections in 2006.

2009 Assembly Elections

Main article: Andhra Pradesh state assembly elections, 2009

In the Andhra Pradesh general election, 2009 the Indian National Congress under the leadership of YSR could get a simple majority by winning 156 of 294 assembly seats. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) gained a few more assembly seats than the previous election. Praja Rajyam Party founded by Chiranjeevi won 16% of the votes. The TRS and the Left parties which in combination won less than 7% of the votes. Lok Satta Party won its first Assembly seat and captured more than 1% vote share.

As Rajasekhara Reddy died on September 2, 2009 in an unfortunate chopper crash, K. Rosaiah of the Indian National Congress took charges as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. However K. Rosaiah resigned as Chief Minister on health grounds. The next day, on November 25, 2010, the present Chief Minister, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy of Indian National Congress took charges as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

See also

• List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh
• Government of Andhra Pradesh
• Elections in Andhra Pradesh

References

• AP Elections 2009 MLA/MP winners list