Congress retains power in Andhra Pradesh and contributes highest state share to UPA's tally

The Congress has swept the Lok Sabha polls by winning 33 out of 42 seats in the state. Among the losers are Union Minister of State Renuka Chowdhary, Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu and Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The TDP-led alliance is likely to get five seats even as the Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen is all set to retain the Hyderabad seat with a massive majority. Both the Praja Rajyam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat in the State.

Union ministers S Jaipal Reddy, M M Pallam Raju and Panabaka Lakshmi won the election. Telengana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao and party general secretary and film actress Vijayashanti emerged victorious.

In the simultaneous polls to the 294-member assembly, the Congress won a simple majority, disproving the hung House predictions made by a hostile regional media in the State.

Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi won the Tirupati assembly seat, but lost from Palacole in his home district, West Godavari. TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrabu Naidu retained the Kuppam assembly seat with a reduced majority. Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy won from Pulivendula in his home district Kadapa.

However, some prominent Congress leaders, including Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy and a dozen state ministers, have lost. The Grand Alliance not only performed badly in Telangana, but also in the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

The Praja Rajyam's performance was dismal in all the three regions, despite the hype created by Chiranjeevi's election tours.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi has ended up as the main loser; it failed to win a majority of the assembly seats allotted to it by the Grand Alliance. The BJP put up a very poor show in the assembly polls, winning only a couple of seats.

In a way, the Congress's performance in the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state is similar to its show in the 1989 assembly and Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2004 simultaneous polls.

In 1989, the Congress won 39 Lok Sabha seats and wrested power from the Telugu Desam led by then chief minister N T Rama Rao by winning 183 assembly seats.

In the 2004 simultaneous polls, the Congress led by Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy snatched power from the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and bagged 29 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress and MIM dominated the twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad, together bagging 14 out of the 15 assembly seats. The Congress and MIM won seven seats each; the BJP retained just one assembly seat.

Congress MP Anjan Kumar Yadav retained the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat by over 150,000 votes. MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi retained his seat by over 110,000 votes.

The MIM won the Malakpet, Chandrayangutta, Charminar, Yakutpura, Bahadurpura, Karwan and Nampally assembly seats whereas the Congress bagged the Musheerabad, Secunderabad, Sanathnagar, Secunderabad Cantonment, Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills and Goshamahal seats.