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A question of Telugu pride

Anant Gaundalkar

The Telugu Desam Party won 16 seats and the Congress 22 seats in the 1996 election in Andhra Pradesh.

In coastal Andhra Pradesh – popularly known as Circars – the TDP won 10 out of 18 seats. In Telangana, it managed to win only four out of 16 seats and in Rayalaseema, just two out of eight seats.

Traditionally, over the years, the Congress has done very well in Andhra Pradesh in Lok Sabha elections. In 10 out of 11 polls so far, the Congress claimed the lead over other parties. What is remarkable is that even during the 1977 Janata wave, which swept the entire country after the Emergency, the Congress kept its record intact, bagging 41 out of the state's 42 seats.

The BJP's predecessor, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, won the odd one out.

However, in the 1984 poll, following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Congress suffered its worst debacle, managing to win just six seats. In that election, the TDP claimed 30 seats in its parliamentary debut. It was the only time the Congress has failed to muster a double-digit tally from this southern state.

The complete details of party-wise positions in various Lok Sabha elections held in Andhra Pradesh:

Party	1952	1957	1962	1967	1971	1977	1980	1984	1989	1991	1996
Congress	14	37	34	35	28	41	6	39	25	22
Telugu Desam Party	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	30	2	13	16
All India Majlis	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1
Telangana Praja Samiti	7	2	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-
Praja Socialist Party	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Communist Party of India	-	2	7	1	1	-	-	1	-	1	2
Janata Dal	-	-	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Communist Party of India Marxist	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	1	1
Bharatiya Janata Party	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	-
Indian Congress Socialist	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-
Samajwadi Janata Party	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Independents	1	2	1	2	1	-	-	1	-	-	-
Total Seats	25	43	43	41	41	42	42	42	42	42	42

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