Elections in Andhra Pradesh

For current assembly elections, see Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2014.

Elections in Andhra Pradesh state, India 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.

Andhra Pradesh electoral system

National Level Representation

Lok Sabha Delegation

Andhra Pradesh is represented by 25 MP's in Lok Sabha. In the Indian general election, 2014, out of 25 seats, Telugu Desam Party won a majority of 15 seats, while Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party won 8 seats and Bharatiya Janata Party won 2 seats.[1]

Rajya Sabha Delegation

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

State Level Representations

Legislative Assembly

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. In the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections 2014, the Telugu Desam Party formed the state government having secured a majority of 102 seats.[2]

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 the society like Graduates and Teachers. Currently the Legislative Council consists of 58 members.

History of elections in Andhra Pradesh

The first general elections were conducted in India in 1956, for 249 constituencies representing 26 Districts. In 2009, the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly has 294 seats representing 23 districts. From 1956 to 1958 the Andhra Pradesh Legislature was Unicameral and from 1958 when the Council was formed, it became bicameral and continued till 1 June 1985 when the Legislative Council was abolished and the Andhra Pradesh Legislature once again Unicameral until March 2007 when it was reestablished and elections were held for its seats as per THE ANDHRA PRADESH LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BILL, 2004.[3]

Main Political Parties

INC: Indian National Congress, Congress(Indira) = INC(I)
Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (CPI)

Lok Sabha elections

15 Lok Sabha elections have been contested in India since independence starting 1951. The elections held in Andhra Pradesh are listed below. It is worth noting that the 1951 election are results from Hyderabad state, since Andhra Pradesh gained statehood, after merging with Telugu speaking Madras, after that election.

Year Lok Sabha Election Winning Party/Coalition
1952 1st Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1957 2nd Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1962 3rd Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1967 4th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1971 5th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1977 6th Lok Sabha Total: 42. Indian National Congress: 41/42. Janata Party: 1 (Sanjiva Reddy)
1980 7th Lok Sabha Total: 42. Congress (Indira): 42/42
1984 8th Lok Sabha Telugu Desam Party - 30/42; Congress-6
1989 9th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress - 39/42. (MIM-1, TDP-2)
1991 10th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1996 11th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1998 12th Lok Sabha Indian National Congress; Congress-22, TDP-12, BJP-4
1999 13th Lok Sabha National Democratic Alliance (TDP-29/BJP-6), Congress-5
2004 14th Lok Sabha United Progressive Alliance (INC-29/TRS-5), TDP-5
2009 15th Lok Sabha Total: 42. United Progressive Alliance (INC-33/PRP/AIMIM), TDP-6.

In 2014, Andhra Pradesh(Total 42) was bifurcated into Telangana(17) and Andhra Pradesh(25) states. (TRS won 11 out of 17 in Telangana.)

Year Lok Sabha Election Winning Party/Coalition
2014 16th Lok Sabha Total: 25. National Democratic Alliance (TDP+BJP = 15+2 = 17/25), Jagan Reddy's YSRC - 8

Assembly election

Year Election Chief Minister Party Party-wise seats details
1956 First Assembly Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (Congress)
1957 Second Assembly Damodaram Sanjeevaiah
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (2) 		Congress Total: 105. Congress: 68
PDF: 22, Jana Sangh: zero, Independents: 12 [4]
1962 Third Assembly Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (3)
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy 		Congress Total: 300. Congress: 177
CPI: 51, Swatantra Party: 19, Ind: 51.[5]
1967 Fourth Assembly Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (2) Congress
1972 Fifth Assembly P.V. Narasimha Rao
Jalagam Vengala Rao 		Congress Congress: 219/287, Independents: 57.
1978 Sixth Assembly Marri Chenna Reddy
T. Anjaiah
Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy
Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy		 Congress(Indira) Total: 294. INC(I): 175
Congress: 30, Janata Party: 60, Ind: 15.
1983 Seventh 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.
1985 Eighth Assembly N T Rama Rao (2) Telugu Desam Party Total: 294. TDP: 202, Congress: 50
BJP: 8, Janata: 3, CPI: 11, CPM: 11
1989 Ninth Assembly M Chenna Reddy (2)
Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy
Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy (2) 		Congress Total: 294. Congress: 181, TDP: 74.
1994 Tenth Assembly N T Rama Rao (3)
Nara Chandrababu Naidu 		Telugu Desam Party Total: 294. TDP: 216, Congress: 26, CPI: 19, CPM: 15, BJP: 3
1999 Eleventh Assembly N Chandrababu Naidu (2) (Telugu Desam Party) Total: 294. TDP+BJP: 180+10 = 190, Congress: 91
2004 Twelfth Assembly Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Congress Total: 294. Congress: 185, TDP: 47, Telangana Rashtra Samiti: 26
2009 Thirteenth Assembly Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (2)
Konijeti Rosaiah
Kiran Kumar Reddy 		Congress Total: 294. Congress: 156. TDP: 92, Praja Rajyam Party: 18, TRS: 10.

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

Year Election Chief Minister Party Party-wise seats details
2014 Fourteenth Assembly N Chandrababu Naidu (3) (Telugu Desam Party) Total: 175. TDP+BJP: 102+4 ;
YSR Congress: 67

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) formed by Actor N.T.Rama Rao, the first non-Congress government in the state. From 1984 to 2004, the politics of the state essentially was a two party system. The INC regained the state from 1989 to 1994. The TDP formed the state government from 1995 to 2004. In 2004, the present INC government was first formed.[6] This government is now in its second term having won the Assembly elections in 2009.The TDP forms the principal opposition party in the state assembly. The state has an ongoing sub-regionalist Telangana movement with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) being formed in 2001 on this platform. The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) was formed in 2008 by Telugu Film Actor Chiranjeevi that won the third largest number of seats in the 2009 state assembly elections.[2]

The 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 2 phases.[7] All citizens of India above 18 years of age are eligible to enroll as a voter in the electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are allowed 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[8] allows a person to register to vote if he or she is above 18 years of age and is an ‘ordinary resident’ of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer. Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents an NRI from casting his/her 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 organizations 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.[9][10]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ "MP (Lok Sabha)". Official portal of Andhra Pradesh Government. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Andhra Pradesh Legislature Overview". Andhra Pradesh Legislature. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  3. ↑ http://rajyasabha.nic.in/legislative/amendbills/personal_law/102_2004.pdf
  4. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Elections 1957" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  5. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Elections 1962" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  6. ↑ http://eci.nic.in/StatisticalReports/ElectionStatistics.asp
  7. ↑ http://eci.nic.in/notification/notification.asp
  8. ↑ Representation of the People Act-1950
  9. ↑ Petition for Absentee Voting in Indian Elections
  10. ↑ Non-Resident Indians Voting rights in the upcoming general elections

External links

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