Congress Still Winning in AP in Pre-Poll

Like almost everywhere else in the country, the Congress party’s fortunes in AP are dipping significantly, yet the party cannot be written off as there is no viable alternative with a pan-Andhra Pradesh appeal coupled with a highly fragmented Opposition.

Notwithstanding a steep decline of seven percentage points to 32 from 39 in May 2009, the Congress is way ahead of its nearest rival, YSR Congress (20 per cent) and the Telugu Desam Party (17 per cent). This marks a turning point in State politics as the TDP, which ruled AP for nearly 17 years, finds itself relegated to the third place, mainly due to competition from sub-regional parties like the TRS and the YSR Congress

The CNN-IBN-The Hindu Poll Tracker 2013 is a fair reflection of how political developments have influenced voters’ preferences ever since Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s death in September 2009 created a political vacuum. The Telangana Statehood issue dominates the political landscape and the TRS continues to leverage this sentiment as seen by its vote share soaring from six to 13 per cent.

Whether or not the Congress can reverse the trend hinges on the decision the Congress Working Committee takes on Telangana at its meeting before the Parliament session begins on August 5. The CWC will also keep in mind the rising graph (four to seven per cent vote share) of the BJP a strong votary of smaller States, in Telangana.

A notable feature is that 25 percent of 1681 respondents rooted for Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, now in jail, as best suited to lead the State followed by N. Chandrababu Naidu (17 per cent), K. Chandrasekhar Rao (12) and Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy (8 per cent). Film-actor-turned politician ranked a poor sixth, below Lok Satta Party’s Jayaprakash Narayan.