Andhra Pradesh CM T. Anjiah wins Legislative Assembly by-elections unopposed

Anjianh (centre) with candidates who withdrew from the contests: A poltical mysteryThe Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister T. Anjiah appears to have received his Ugadi (Telugu New Year) gift 20 days too soon. Last month, the chief minister drove out in a private car to Ramayanpet, about 100 km from Hyderabad, to file his candidature for the April 5 by-elections to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.Four days later on March 16 in a dramatic twist of events, the 12 others in the fray including the nominee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew from the contest at the last minute to return Anjiah unopposed to the Legislative Assembly. By itself the victory is no surprise considering Ramayanpet is one of the Assembly segments in Mrs Gandhi's Medak constituency and the state a traditional Congress (I) bastion. But the facile manner in which Anjiah scored the victory without a semblance of opposition surprised his own partymen and completely baffled the rival parties. The announcement of Anjiah's election was made in the Legislative Assembly which was in session that evening. After the anticipated desk thumping and handshakes, Anjiah lost no time to declare that the sentiments of the Opposition would always be respected. "Even if they want to keep me at a distance, I want to get closer to them irrespective of what their number may be," said an ebullient Anjiah. Clearly the Opposition in disarray could not put up a fight. But the vociferous Janata Party leader in the Assembly, S. Jaipal Reddy described the unopposed election as a great political mystery. He demanded a thorough investigation into the "methods and means employed by the ministerial admirers of the chief minister to achieve this great result." These remarks, however, irked the BJP for motives were being ascribed to it and its candidate, Latchi Reddi - a recent entrant into the party. The rumour mill worked overtime and the BJP was accused of public betrayal by the Janata Party.BJP's Defence: "The question of betrayal of either the people or of any other opposition party does not arise. We have sufficient experience of the deplorable failures of projecting a common candidate against chief ministers in by-elections in other states," said Jupudi Yagnarayana, leader of the BJP in the state Legislative Council. He told India Today: "We allowed Latchi Reddi to file the nomination on the condition that his continuing in the party depended on an assessment of the constituency and prospects of giving the chief minister a good fight. We had no intention of fielding our own candidate, for like all parties we have no unit in the Ramayanpet area. Latchi Reddi came to us on his own."The Congress(I) dig at the Opposition is more than a turn of phrase. Though Anjiah cannot be accused of flouting democratic norms directly, the manner in which all 12 opponents could have withdrawn at the last minute is anybody's guess. A nagging question is: Were the means adopted by the Congress (I) to ensure total withdrawal fair? All candidates are political nonentities in their constituency and as a senior Congress (I) member admitted: "We used persuasive means by cajoling and comforting them." This confirms Anjiah's penchant for deviating from established democratic norms. There is perhaps no parallel in Indian legislative history of a chief minister delegating all legislative work about the portfolios in his charge to other ministers.Performance: Besides handing over the legislative work, Anjiah appointed Law Minister E. Ayappu Reddy as the leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly and C. Jagannatha Rao, the excise minister as leader of the Upper House. Even after his election to the Assembly, Anjiah is not keen on taking charge as leader of the House.The Government that took office last October is still coming to grips with problems. Even the Congress (I) men are critical about the tardy progress of the drought relief operations. Now some of them are grouping into the Congress (I) Legislature Forum for the implementation of the 20-point economic programme on the plea that much of it is being ignored by the Anjiah Government. Indications are this will be a ginger group within the party. Meanwhile the party campaign reached a new pitch at the end of last month as it tried to win the by-elections in Chirala, Palair and Ibrahim patna (reserved) constituencies scheduled on April 5 to take its strength to" 257 in a 295-seat House.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 22, 2013 11:10 IST--- ENDS ---

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Andhra Pradesh CM T. Anjiah wins Legislative Assembly by-elections unopposed

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister T. Anjiah appears to have received his Ugadi (Telugu New Year) gift 20 days too soon.

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