Well, friends the recent 15th General Elections also saw the State Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh. Congress(I) won with a thumping majority to form Government in the Assembly on its own. This statement has several implications to the opposition parties especially the TDP which wanted to wrestle very hard to come to power. However the Grand Alliance or the Maha Kutami did not fare well in the elections reason being the people's mandate wanting stable government with a secular touch focusing on issues other than caste, religion.
Firstly the Congress party won the elections forming the single largest party in State and contributing a whopping 33/42 Lok Sabha seats to the Centre significantly helping the UPA form the Government at the centre. Credit goes to Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy, CM, Andhra Pradesh for some significant steps to curb down on the Anti-Incumbency Factor reeling loud over the SEZ's, Corruption charges on Government bureaucrats caught just before the elections, law & order problems facing the State with atrocities on Women on the rise, Projects taking more than stipulated time period for completion, Satyam Scam, Maytas and Metro Rail project collapse case and many more.
All these charges would have pulled the Ruling party into oblivion and made the come back of the tech savvy N.Chandra Babu to power. But as Managment Guru C.K.Prahlad says, " Fortune lies at the bottom of the pyramid". YSR capitalised on the Rajiv Arogya Sri Program - Hi-tech Medical Aid to the downtrodden, 108 - Ambulance service, Rajiv Gruhakalpa Scheme for the shelter-less;Rice at Rs/-2 a Kg, With these schemes successfully implemented and also winning the peoples mandate that if He does not come to power these schemes will drain out from the New Government YSR strongly won the elections.
Another factor was the recent Real Estate Bust which is credited to KCR's by-polls in 2008; which made the Coastal Andhra businessmen turn their backs on investing significantly in Telangana Region especially in and around Hyderabad. The turning point for all these businessmen and other voters from Coastal Andhra was YSR Speech in Nandyal in Kurnool District, after the first phase of elections in the State; where he vehemently pleaded to the people of Rayala Seema and Coastal Andhra that if a separate statehood is granted to Telangana - they would be treated as foreigners on their own soil. He made this so clear that the recency effect principle worked in his favor in the final phase of polls making a clear victory in the elections.
Having said that, the way forward for YSR is to complete all the projects in time, develop the IT sector and pitch in more investments into the SEZs from Foreign Companies; just like Tamil Nadu bringing in Foreign Companies to set up shops to generate employement.
Nice blog.This shows how closely you have followed and analyzed AP elections..But there was no mention of other parties like PRP and Lok satta..
ReplyDeleteRead my next post!! Kalyani.
ReplyDeleteThis was only to highlight the best governance which Rajasekhara Reddy implemented. Pavala Vaddi scheme, Runalu Maphi Scheme have got wide spread appreciation from the agrarian community and weaker sections of the society. This has helped counter the suicide rate of our State. Hail Congress! Hail YSR is what we will see in the next 5 Years.