1999 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
The 1999 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election was conducted in 3 phases simultaneously with the 1999 Indian general election for the 11th Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The election was held on 5 September 1999, 11 September 1999 and 18 September 1999 for 91, 105 and 98 constituencies respectively. The election concluded with the Telugu Desam Party sweeping the polls with 180 seats and forming the government once again.
Previous assembly
In the 1994 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, the TDP won a decisive mandate and N. T. Rama Rao was sworn in as Chief Minister. In August 1995, following internal party developments and a leadership challenge led by N. Chandrababu Naidu, NTR was replaced as Chief Minister. Naidu subsequently assumed office, with the majority of party legislators supporting him.Background
The incumbent Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu led TDP swept the polls along with Bharatiya Janata Party as part of pre-poll alliance where Naidu agreed to extend his outside support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in the simultaneous 1999 general election.The TDP bagged a majority and formed the government for another term. N. Chandrababu Naidu was once again invited to form the government by the governor C. Rangarajan
The other new parties like Anna Telugu Desam Party led by Nandamuri Harikrishna and NTR Telugu Desam Party led by Lakshmi Parvathi although managed to split the voting share of the Naidu led TDP, but did not gain any single seat in the election. The opposition Indian National Congress led by Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was only restricted to 91 seats. Law and order, particularly the activities of Naxalite insurgents in certain districts, was a significant election issue. The TDP campaigned on a strong anti-Naxal stance. Naxal groups targeted political workers and leaders, including the killing of TDP MLA P. Purushotham Rao in Sirpur, before the election.
Schedule
The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India on 11 July 1999.Parties and alliances
Source:Incidents
The polling in the naxal effected Narasaraopet was concluded with over 60% of voting. People abstained from voting in two booths at Sarangapalli village in response to a poll boycott given by the Naxalites of the banned Peoples War Group (Maoist).Another incident of bomb blast took place in the same naxal affected constituency. The polling in the constituency, which was scheduled for the first phase on September 5, was postponed after the bomb blast at the residence-cum-nursing home of Panchayat Raj Minister Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, in which four people including an independent candidate were killed.