Elections in Andhra Pradesh

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.

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

Assembly election

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

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

• Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 81-7036-809-X (India HB) ISBN 0-7619-9344-4 (U.S. HB).
• Subrata K. Mitra, Mike Enskat, Clemens Spiess (eds.). 2004. Political Parties in South Asia. Greenwood: Praeger.
• Subrata K. Mitra/Mike Enskat/V.B. Singh. 2001. India, in: Nohlen, Dieter (Ed.). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press

See also

• List of Assembly constituencies of Andhra Pradesh
• List of Lok Sabha Constituencies
• Elections in India
• 49-O Popularly known as 'No Vote'

References

External links

• Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission
• Election Commission of India
• Assembly Elections
• Elections in India History and Information
• News Related to 2009 Elections in India
• Social Media Conversations of Indian Elections 2009
• Andhra Elections

State of Andhra Pradesh
Capital: Amaravati (de facto), Hyderabad (de jure)
Topics	Cinema Cuisine Culture Demographics Economy Education Elections Geography Government Highest point History Language Politics Sports People Transport Tourism
Regions	Coastal Andhra Rayalaseema
Districts	Anantapur Chittoor East Godavari Guntur Kadapa Kurnool Krishna Prakasam Nellore Srikakulam Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram West Godavari
Million-plus cities	Visakhapatnam Vijayawada
Cities (population over 1 lakh)	Adoni Anantapur Bhimavaram Chilakaluripet Chittoor Dharmavaram Eluru Gudivada Guntakal Guntur Hindupur Kadapa Kakinada Kurnool Machilipatnam Madanapalle Nandyal Narasaraopet Nellore Ongole Proddatur Rajahmundry Srikakulam Tadepalligudem Tadpatri Tenali Tirupati Vijayawada Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram
Tourism	Dams Forts Lakes National Parks Hindu Temples Churches Wildlife Sanctuaries Waterfalls
Related lists	List of cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh by nicknames List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by area List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population List of mandals in Andhra Pradesh List of municipalities in Andhra Pradesh List of revenue divisions in Andhra Pradesh List of urban agglomerations in Andhra Pradesh
Portal: Andhra Pradesh

Elections in India
General elections	1920 1923 1926 1930 1934 1945 1951–52 1957 1962 1967 1971 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014 next
State elections	1920 1923 1926 1930 1934 1937 1946 1952 1954 1955 1957 1960 1961 1962 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
See also: Elections in Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Puducherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal