Cong. seals seat-sharing deal with CPI, talks with CPI(M) still under way
Guntur Lok Sabha and eight Assembly seats have been given to the CPI; Vijayawada Central Assembly seat may turn into a bone of contention between the Congress and CPI(M)
As part of its alliance with the Left parties in the elections, the Congress in Andhra Pradesh has sealed a seatsharing deal with the Communist Party of India (CPI), leaving one Lok Sabha and eight Assembly constituencies for its poll partner to contest.
The Guntur Parliamentary constituency and eight Assembly segments including Vijayawada West, Visakha West, Anantapur, Pattikonda, Tirupati, Rajampet, Eluru, and Kamalapuram have been given to the CPI.
Talks are in progress with the CPI(M) on seatsharing and sources in the Congress said efforts were on to iron out issues related to certain constituencies that were of equal interest to both the poll partners.
Pointing to the fact that the CPI(M) is insisting on retaining Gannavaram, Vijayawada East, Vijayawada Central and Mangalagiri Assembly seats, a Congress senior leader said, “If that happens, we will not be left with any party worker to even tie a flag from Gannavaram up to the party office at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada when a Congress leader
APCC president Y.S. Sharmila, CPI(M) secretary V. Srinivasa Rao and CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna addressing the media after a meeting, at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada.
from outside the State visits the city.” The Vijayawada Central Assembly seat may turn into a major bone of contention between the Congress and the CPI(M). While the State leaders are engaged in deliberations to seal the deal, CPI(M) senior leader Ch. Baburao has started campaigning in the Vijayawada Central constituency.
Some Congress leaders feel that giving away two of the three Assembly seats to the allies in Vijayawada will prove to be a ‘costly mistake’. Asserting that Vijayawada city has been a traditional Congress bastion, they want their leadership to field the party candidates from Vijayawada East
and Vijayawada Central constituencies.
They also insist that the CPI, which has been given Vijayawada West, field a candidate belonging to the Minority community, as this would pacify the minorities associated with the Congress to some extent.
“In 2004 elections, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy allotted Vijayawada West Assembly constituency to the CPI as part of pollalignment but ensured that a candidate belonging to the Minority community, Nazar Vali, contested from the seat on behalf of the alliance and the latter won the elections,” APCC vicepresident and a BC leader Kola
nukonda Shivaji said, insisting that the Congress should retain two Assembly segments in Vijayawada.
He made an appeal to the party leadership to take these key factors into account before arriving at a final decision. He also assured that every leader and cadre would work relentlessly for the victory of the party candidates in the elections, regardless of the decision.
The CPI(M) leaders, meanwhile, are also said to be particular about fielding their nominees from a few other Assembly constituencies for which the Congress leadership in Delhi has already declared the nominees.
In a second triangular alliance in Andhra Pradesh, the Left parties are aligning with the Congress for the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The Left parties — the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)—hope to revive their past glory in this election.
The Left is allying with the Congress after nearly two decades. The CPI and CPI(M) had an alliance with the Congress in 2004 during Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Left parties won 15 seats then.
Now, the CPI has decided to contest from 14 Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. Similarly, the CPI(M) has drawn up plans to contest from at least 10 Assembly constituencies. A final picture, however, would emerge after a consensus on several seats with the Congress.
A bird’s eye view of the Left parties’ performance since 1972 shows a decline in the undivided Andhra
The Left parties are allying with the Congress after nearly two decades, the last being in undivided A.P. in 2004
Pradesh. The Communist Party’s vote share was 10.01% in 1962 election and they won 51 seats. In 1964, the CPI underwent a division with the formation of CPI(M). Both the CPI and the CPI(M) managed to get 11 and nine seats respectively in the immediate election in 1967. Their vote share was 7.78% and 7.61% respectively, totalling 15.38%.
However, their performance has gone downhill ever since. Their vote share touched rock bottom, with the CPI securing only 0.1% vote share in 2019 and CPI(M) getting 0.3% of the total. After the State bifurcation in 2014, their vote share fell below 1%, and they won zero seats.
The prospects of the Left improved in the 1985, 1994, 2004 and 2009 elections. A cursory look at these elections suggests that the Left benefitted from the alliances and won seats, but their vote share eroded.
The Left sympathisers turned to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) or the Congress, as their requirements were met by the incumbent governments. By the time the Left parties realised the sideeffects of the alliances and took corrective measures, their combined vote share stood at 0.4% in 2019.
In 1985, the election, after Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s coup against TDP founderpresident N.T. Rama Rao, the TDP had a prepoll pact with the Left and the BJP. Then, the CPI won 11 of 15 seats it had contested, while the CPI(M) won 11 of 12.
Again in 1994, the TDP had an alliance with the Left. The 1994 elections were held after the P.V. Narasimha Rao government at the Centre launched economic reforms in 1991. The CPI won 19 of 21 seats, while the CPI(M) won 15 of 16 seats in 1994. However, the CPI could not win a single seat in 1999 despite contesting from 45 Assembly constituencies. The CPI(M) managed to bag two seats of the 48 it had contested. The vote share of both the parties dipped to 1.6% and 1.8% respectively.
A strong antiincumbency against the TDP government swayed the State in 1989, and Rajiv Gandhi was murdered two years later, which saw the Congress emerging victorious.
The CPI and CPI(M) had an alliance with the TDP, which lost the poll battle, but the Left parties managed to win eight and six seats respectively. Probably, it was the only election wherein the parties won against the tide. But, their vote share did not improve significantly. The CPI got 2.6% votes when compared to 2.7% in 1985, and CPI(M) garnered 2.5% against 2.3% in 1985.
In 2014, the Left had no alliance with any party as the YSRCP chose to fight the polls alone, and the TDP partnered with the BJP and the JSP. The CPI and CPI(M) could not win any seat in that election. In 2019, the Left chose to sail with the JSP, which failed to make an impact. The CPI drew a blank though it contested from seven seats and CPI(M) got none of the seven seats it fought.