ANDHRA PRADESH - Batteleground State #3

Andhra Pradesh sends 42 members to the lower house of parliament (The 3rd largest behind UP and Maharashtra). In terms of numbers it is a crucial state but this time it will hold the key to the locks of 7 Race Course Road especially for the so-called 3rd front. The dominant parties of the state are Congress and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP. Congress's support base comes from the Reddys while the Kammas throw in their lot with the TDP. Along with the lok sabha polls Rajasekara Reddy led Congress govt. in the state will face the electorate in the vidhan sabha elections as well. For Naidu the ongoing elections will be a test of his political survival. The state is divided into 3 regions - Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. The Telangana region has long felt neglected in the state's rapid development and demands of a separate state of Telangana have surfaced time and again. The congress party has always opposed such a move but the TDP has done a volte-face by stating that it will accept a separate telangana. In doing so it has gone in for an alliance with TRS (a party formed from TDP rebels over the telangana issue in 2001). The TRS contested the 2004 in alliance with Cong and swept this region of the state. Now the TDP, TRS and Left parties have joined hands for this election and atleast in the telangana region (17 seats) seem a formidable combination on paper. As far as the other 2 regions are concerned Congress is holding an upper hand though the TDP will give a tough fight. The entry of cine star chiranjeevi's PRP has added the glamour quotient to the polls. His support base stems from his Kapu community which has strong presence in east godavari districts and several parts of Rayalaseema. Chiru as he is affectionately called will be biding his time and anticipating a mid-term poll in the state assembly. For him this is a semi-final. The PRP though can seriously damage both congress and TDP especially the latter. The BJP which is going it alone has promised statehood for Telangana in 100 days if voted to power. It might well spring a few surprises in the state. Post-delimitation it will have a crack at the seats from Hyderabad and Secundarabad and other regions of Telangana alongwith parts of coastal districts such as Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Andhra Pradesh will be watched with keen eyes from all quarters.

Seat projection:-

TOTAL Seats - 42

UPA:
Cong - 18
AIMIM - 1

Third Front:
TDP - 13
TRS - 4
Left - 1

NDA:
BJP - 3

PRP - 2