NTR, Chandrababu, YSR, KCR managed to get elected second term as Chief Ministers
Patibandla Srinivas
Amaravati: Now it is a hot topic everywhere whether the YSR Congress led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy would retain the power or not in the present elections.
TDP founder-president NT Rama Rao, present president N Chandrababu Naidu, then Congress leader YS Rajasekhar Reddy and TRS founder K Chandrasekhar Rao were only elected for the Chief Minister’s position for the next term also.
NT Rama Rao was elected as Chief Minister in 1983 in the first time elections of his political career after establishing the party. TDP won 201 seats along with its alliance partners CPM 5 and CPI 4 Assembly seats while Congress party got 60 seats in the total of 294 Assembly seats in the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh. Then the TDP got 46.30 percent votes while the Congress party lost 115 seats with a 5.67 percent vote difference compared with the previous election.
NT Rama Rao dissolved the Assembly and again won in the 1985 elections following the controversial political developments with senior party leader Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s internal rivalry threat for the Chief Minister’s position.
In 1985, the TDP won 202 seats with a 0.09 percent drop in voter support. The Congress lost 10 seats from 60 to 50 seats. Late NTR played a remarkable role and he gained the minds of the rank and file of the TDP and fan followers with the godly image. Then the Opposition was not in a strong position while it was mid term election against the schedule. NTR’s image and stature did not get vandalised at the time of the second election in his career. But the TDP won only 74 seats with an anti-incumbency factor in the 1989 election with the percentage dropping by 9.67.
In the 1999 elections, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu also won the Chief Minister’s position for the second time. He was elected Chief Minister’s position by the MLAs for the first time in his career in 1995 amidst huge controversial political developments. Indeed, the TDP government won the 1994 elections under the leadership of former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao. But he lost power when Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister.
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He faced the elections in 1999 as Chief Minister under his direct leadership. TDP won 180 seats and Congress won 91 seats in the Assembly. Chandrababu Naidu earned a national leader’s image by introducing reforms in various sectors.
As a result, the State witnessed huge and new progress and the city of Hyderabad was renovated with IT and infra developments. Along with that, the TDP contested with the BJP alliance. It was also an added advantage to the TDP when the BJP had a good image under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. As a result, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu retained power in this election overcoming the anti-incumbency factor though he lost 0.27 voting percentage compared with the TDP’s record in the previous election.
In the 2004 elections, the Congress came to power with 185 seats while TDP was restricted to 45 Assembly seats. Congress leader YS Rajasekhar Reddy was elected as Chief Minister for the first time in the election. In the 2009 elections, he became the Chief Minister second time retaining the Chief Minister’s position.
He also introduced several welfare schemes especially Arogyasri, 108 services, and fees reimbursement for students. As a result, he won the election and achieved the CM’s post for the second time. The Congress won 156 seats while Opposition TDP won 92 Assembly seats but then the newly formed Prajarajyam party led by film actor Chiranjeevi won 18 seats by bagging 16 vote share difference. Indeed, TDP lost with the vote share difference of 6 percent only.
The TDP lost the election due to the role of PRP and another new party Lok Satta. Chief Minister Rajasekhar Reddy created his mark in public by implementing welfare schemes but he could succeed after the Opposition parties divided the anti-incumbency vote in a triangle fight. The role of Opposition parties helped Rajasekhar Reddy to come into power for the next term.
Similarly, Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao was elected as Chief Minister for the first time in his career in the 2014 elections. The TRS led by him won 63 seats with a slight marginal victory in the 120 MLAs Assembly. The major political parties Congress won 21, TDP 15 while the BJP won 5 seats in the Assembly. The people supported the TRS treating K Chandrasekhar as a champion for the separation of the new state of Telangana.
In the next 2018 election, TRS won consecutive elections and K Chandrasekhar was elected as the Chief Minister for the second time. This time TRS won 88 seats by improving the strength of 25 Assembly seats. TDP lost its entire base following the political upper-handedness and tactics of K Chandrasekhar Rao during the period. The majority of the rank and file of the TDP leaders joined the TRS when it emerged as a strong political party in Telangana. The Opposition Congress’s internal problems and the indirect support of the BJP helped TRS come into power.
