Andhra Civic Polls Make Everyone Happy

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu may be smiling after the Andhra Pradesh civic election, but Telugu Desam Party (TDP) insiders say the party has not done as well as expected. Naidu's TDP and its ally, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), romped home with a comfortable majority, winning in 62 out of 103 municipalities and three of the five municipal corporations that went to the hustings in the state. The TDP bagged 52 municipalities and the BJP secured 10 while the opposition Congress Party won 35. Naidu seems satisfied by the results, viewing them as a referendum on the functioning of his government. Naidu told reporters that various developmental works taken up by the TDP government in the last four-and-a-half years had helped the party win. He said the alliance with the BJP had helped the TDP gain support in urban areas, which has traditionally been a Congress Party stronghold. The TDP has also done remarkably well in the Telangana region, bagging 15 of 41 municipalities. The BJP won seven municipalities there, an encouraging sign for the party which seems to be finding acceptance among the Naxalite-infested, Muslim-dominated region. The Congress Party bagged 15 seats here. Political analysts told India Abroad News Service that the support garnered by the BJP and the TDP in Telangana was due to the allotment of Rs. 8 billion ($186 million), a World Bank loan, for the development of extremist-ruled areas like Kurnool, Adilabad and Warangal, just ahead of last year's Assembly election. Development works were being carried out on a massive scale in the region, which were reflected in the municipal election results, they said. However, TDP sources close to Naidu told India Abroad News Service he had expected his party to do better. Naidu had apparently expected the TDP-BJP combine to win more than 90 seats. Internal party rivalries as well as differences between the allies over choice of candidates were reflected in the results, they said. They also felt Naidu had not spent much money on campaigning. Moreover, Naidu had given more importance to the posts of municipal chairpersons than of counselors, thus losing out in the second category, they said. The TDP is sore with the loss of the corporation of Visakhapatnam which was retained by the Congress Party. However, TDP insiders said such an outcome was expected because of internal opposition to the choice candidate Uma Bala. Senior party leaders apparently hold the view that Bala should not have been chosen as she was "neutral" and did not have a great rapport with the party leadership. The Congress Party, which is jubilant over its comfortable victory in Visakhapatnam, is not unhappy with the overall results. State Congress Committee president K. Rosaiah told reporters that the Congress had actually improved its position in the urban areas when compared with the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. It was not wiped out as predicted, he said. The Congress Party, however, lost the crucial Warangal corporation which it had been controlling for the past 48 years to the BJP. In the 1995 municipal elections, which were held immediately after the Assembly elections, the Congress had bagged 42 seats in spite of securing only 26 seats in Assembly. But this time, in spite of bagging 90 seats in the Assembly, the Congress tally in municipal elections has decreased to 35. Coastal Andhra reaffirmed its faith in Naidu, giving TDP 32 of the 47 municipalities, as against the Congress Party tally of 13. The TDP made a clean sweep of all the eight municipalities in West Godavari district. The traditional Congress bastion Nellore went to TDP, while TDP stronghold Cuddapah went to Congress. The BJP secured one seat in the region. Independents won four municipalities, while the All-India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) bagged one, that of Adilabad. Recounting was ordered in the Punganur municipality of the Chittoor district. The BJP, of course, is more than happy with the results, winning 10 of the 19 seats it contested. The party has found acceptance in the Telangana region, bagging seven out of 13 seats, besides wresting the prestigious Warangal corporation from the Congress.