The YSRCP is left with only 11 Assembly and 4 LS seats, with six Assembly seats and three MP seats coming from the Rayalaseema region.
YSRCP ministers applauding YS Jagan's speech. (Supplied)
The YSRCP faced a complete rout in eight districts out of 13 in Andhra Pradesh in the 2024 elections, losing both Assembly and Parliamentary seats. The party is left with only 11 Assembly seats out of the 175 and four parliamentary seats out of 25 in the state.
Overall, it is now limited to a vote share of 39.37 percent, compared to the 2019 vote share of 49.95 percent.
In 2019, the YSRCP achieved a clean sweep in four districts —Vizianagaram, Nellore, Kadapa, and Kurnool — and dominated the remaining nine districts, winning a total of 151 out of 175 Assembly seats.
The party has now experienced a complete reversal.
Meanwhile, the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance achieved a landslide victory, totalling 164 Assembly seats and 21 Parliament seats, with a vote share of more than 50 percent.
In the North Andhra region, which comprises three districts — Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam — there are a total of 34 Assembly seats.
These three districts play a key role as they are not dominated by the two prominent communities in the state, the Reddys and the Kammas.
In these districts, the Backward Classes (BCs) play a significant role, and the party offered tickets to candidates from the BC communities.
In 2019, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party won eight out of 10 seats in Srikakulam, nine out of nine seats in Vizianagaram, and eleven out of 15 seats in Visakhapatnam, totalling 28 out of 34 seats, with vote shares of 49.31, 51.58, and 44.26 percent respectively.
Interestingly, the Srikakulam parliamentary seat was one of the three retained by the TDP out of the 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh.
In 2024, the TDP and its allies Jana Sena and BJP swept Srikakulam and Vizianagaram and won thirteen out of 15 seats in Visakhapatnam.
Among the five Parliamentary seats in the North Andhra region, three were retained by the TDP, one by the BJP, and the YSRCP retained Araku.
The YSRCP which got the vote share of 49.31, 51.58, and 44.26 percent for Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam respectively is now reduced to 38.1, 38.4, and 33.3 percent.
Importantly, prominent families such as the former minister Dharmana Prasad Rao and his brother Krishna Das, who contested from Srikakulam and Narasannapeta, have lost.
Furthermore, former minister Botcha Satyanarayana, who contested from Chipurupalle, his wife Jhansi, who contested from the Vizag parliamentary seat, his brother Botsa Appalanarasayya, who contested from Gajapathi Nagaram, and another family member Baddukonda Appala Naidu, who contested from Nellimarla, have all lost in the elections.
The two Godavari districts — East and West — comprise a total of 34 Assembly seats and five Parliamentary seats. These districts are dominated by the Kapu, a forward-caste community of peasants.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP won 14 out of 19 Assembly seats in East Godavari and 13 out of 15 in West Godavari district, with a vote share of 43.4 and 46.3, respectively. It also swept all five parliamentary seats.
However, in a significant turnaround in 2024, the YSRCP lost all 34 Assembly seats and five parliamentary seats in these two districts. The party’s vote share for the two districts now stands at 35.3 and 35.8, respectively.
The Jana Sena contested 11 Assembly seats and one parliamentary seat from these two districts.
Party chief Pawan Kalyan contested from one of the constituencies, Pithapuram, and won with a margin of over 70,000 votes.
This move of Jana Sena to contest more seats is seen as an important effort to consolidate the Kapu community against YSRCP and align with the TDP alliance, which is traditionally viewed as a hostile party to the Kapu community.
The Krishna and Guntur districts, which have a total of 33 Assembly seats and four Parliamentary seats, are considered strongholds of the TDP.
This is because of the dominance of the Kamma community, from which the TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu hails, in these regions.
Notably, the Amaravati Greenfield capital is also located in this region, despite recommendations against it from expert committees.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP won 14 out of 16 Assembly seats in Krishna and 15 out of 17 in Guntur. They also secured three Parliamentary seats, with an overall vote share of 46.9 and 48.6, respectively.
Politically, YS Jagan later countered the Amaravati move by stating that only one community benefits from this decision.
He initiated the proposal for three capitals, with Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, and Kurnool as the judiciary capital.
This move has received backlash from all communities in the two districts, as YS Jagan’s decision halted the construction of the capital, indirectly impacting the development of these regions.
Following the setback, in a significant reversal, the YSRCP has been wiped out of all 33 Assembly and five Parliamentary seats in these two districts. Its vote share has declined to 37.7 and 39.2 in Krishna and Guntur, respectively.
The Prakasam and Nellore districts have a combined count of 22 Assembly seats and two parliamentary seats.
In 2019, YS Jagan won almost eight out of 12 Assembly seats in Prakasam and all 10 in Nellore, along with both Parliamentary seats. The vote share for the two districts was 52.3 for Prakasam and 54.7 for Nellore.
However, YS Jagan has faced a lot of backlash from this region with many MLAs expressing dissatisfaction over non-prioritisation.
This includes his uncle, former minister Balineni Srinivas Reddy, who shed tears in front of the media in 2023 over a perceived lack of attention from Chief Minister YS Jagan.
Furthermore, three MLAs from the Nellore region cross-voted for the TDP MLC candidate Anuradha in the Assembly in 2023, despite TDP lacking the numbers to win.
Ongole sitting MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy who won on a YSRCP ticket in 2019, and Rajya Sabha MP and the then-contestant form Nellore Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy joined the TDP, contested the elections and won.
Finally, in 2024, the YSRCP managed to win just two seats from Prakasam out of the total 12 and experienced a significant defeat in Nellore, losing all ten Assembly seats and both Parliamentary seats from the region.
The vote share stands at 43 and 40 respectively for Prakasam and Nellore regions.
The Rayalaseema region encompasses Kurnool, Anantapuram, Kadapa, and Chittoor districts. This area is considered one of the strongholds for the YSRCP, as the party’s chief YS Jagan’s late father YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) hailed from this region.
Additionally, TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu also comes from the same region. Barring the 1990s under NTR’s leadership, this region has always been a testing ground for many parties to dominate.
In the 2019 elections, out of the total 52 Assembly seats, the YSRCP won a whopping 49 with an average vote share of 55.13 percent. Furthermore, the party also secured all eight Parliamentary seats.
However, in a takeover of dominance, the TDP, Jana Sena and BJP alliance has now won 46 seats in the 2024 elections, leaving just six Assembly seats to the YSRCP.
As for the Parliamentary seats, the YSRCP won three out of eight seats.
Overall, the YSRCP won the majority of seats in the Assembly and Parliamentary elections from this region, securing six out of 11 Assembly seats and three out of four Parliamentary seats.
It is also to be noted that Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy who won from the Rayalaseema region, specifically from Punganur, is the lone sitting minister to win the elections out of 25.
Meanwhile, the Congress, which aimed to dominate or win over the YSRCP to rekindle its presence in Andhra Pradesh, had no luck.
Its chief, YS Sharmila, who contested in Kadapa against her cousin and incumbent MP Avinash Reddy from the YSRCP, did not succeed.
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