Congress Nominates Pranab Mukherjee for India's President

India's ruling Congress party nominated Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for president , setting the stage for a potential election battle in coming weeks that would test the strength and cohesion of the government at a time when it's struggling to deal with the nation's economic slowdown.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced the decision after meeting with senior political leaders from Congress and its allies, praising Mr. Mukherjee for a "long and distinguished career of public service" and urging all parties to back him.

AP By polls: Jagan Victory Spells Doom For Congress

The near-clean sweep by YSR Congress party in just concluded AP by polls for 1 Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies is certainly going to spell doom for the state Congress in immediate future and for the Centre in 2014. The YSRCP has won 15 out of 18 assembly seats along with the lone Nellore Lok Sabha seat by a whopping majority of 2,91,745 votes.

In 16 of the 18 assembly seats that have gone to by-elections, are being held because the sitting Congress MLAs were disqualified by the Assembly Speaker for switching loyalties to the YSR Congress and voting against the Congress government during a no-trust vote in December last year. Every seat that Jagan has won today will eat into the Congress' thin majority in the Andhra assembly. At present the ruling party has 151 seats in the 294-member Assembly and the hallway mark is at 148. 


Fall of Kiran Kumar government may not be the immediate concern for the Congress, but what is more alarming for it is the possibility of a mass exodus from the party into the Jagan camp. The 294 member AP assembly also has a big impact of the upcoming Presidential polls, as it forms an important part of the electoral college. A big win for Jagan Mohan Reddy may compound the Congress' problems and make it more difficult to install a UPA-backed candidate in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The results are also being keenly watched in Delhi. In 2004, the Congress had won 29 seats in Andhra Pradesh out of its overall tally of 145 seats in the Lok Sabha. This tally increased to 33 - out of 207 - in the current Lok Sabha. Andhra Pradesh sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha, and these polls are being seen as a curtain-raiser to the 2014 elections. Already news is making rounds that the Trinamool Congress chief Ms. Mamata Banerjee is trying to make contacts with YSRCP honorary president YS Vijayamma to garner support for her choice of presidential candidate.

AP BY ELECTIONS JUNE 2012 - RESULTS

YSR Congress party emerged as a power center in AP politics by winning around 85% of the by-poll constituencies. Out of the 17 constituencies in Seemandhra, it won 15 constituencies with a thumping majority and lost at 2 Assembly segments with a slight margin. Jagan's party gave a tough fight to TRS in the Parakala constituency. A neck-to-neck contest between TRS and YSRC continued from the rounds 12 to 19. At last, TRS just managed to seal the victory with a slight margin of 1562 votes. With these by-poll results, Jagan proved that his party is Not Just a Fan, but It's Too'Fan' in state politics

PARTY	YSR CP	CONG	TDP	TRS
WIN	15	2	0	1

Sl.No	Constuaency	Leading/Win party	II Place	Majority
1	Narsannapet	YSR Cong WIN	Cong	7312
2	Payakaraopet	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	14362
3	Ramachadrapuram	CONG WIN	YSR Cong	11919
4	Narsapuram	CONG WIN	YSR Cong	4464
5	Polavaram	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	35767
6	Marcharla	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	15479
7	Pathipadu	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	16781
8	Ongole	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	27403
9	Udayagiri	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	30598
10	Tirupati	YSR Cong WIN	CONG	16253
11	Rayachoti	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	56891
12	Rajampet	YSR Cong WIN	CONG	38219
13	R.Koduru	YSR Cong WIN	CONG	31991
14	Ananatapur	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	24739
15	Rayadurgam	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	32476
16	Allagadda	YSR Cong WIN	CONG	36795
17	Yemmiganur	YSR Cong WIN	TDP	20103
18	Parkala	TRS	YSR CONG	1562
19	Nellore Loksabha	YSR Cong	CONG	2,91,745

Andhra Pradesh By Election Exit Poll Survey Reports - June 2012

By Election Exit Poll Survey Reports

MP Lagadapathi Rajagopal predicted that the YSR Congress Party would emerge victorious in the 
ensuing by-elections.

Talking to media persons, Lagadapathi Rajagopal said that the YSR Congress Party would win in 12-16
assembly constituencies, the ruling Congress in three segments and Opposition Telugu Desam party
would win in two assembly constituencies.

He said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate would emerge victorious in the Parakala Assembly
constituency.

Apart from the sympathy factor over the arrest of YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy by the CBI,
he said that the campaign launched by its party honorary president and Pulivendula MLA Y S Vijayamma
and YSR’s daughter Sharmila yielded good results.

Though the Congress party has tackled effectively the YSR Congress party in the by-elections, the
sympathy wave has dominated the YSR Congress party in the elections, he stated.

However, he said that the Congress has managed to expose the misdeeds and corrupt practices of
Jagan Mohan Reddy in accumulating wealth effectively in the elections

Exit polls by different television channels predicted a near sweep by the YSR CP, saying it could win
14 to 16 seats.

As per the reports obtained from different sources and the Television channel surveys, there would be a
tough competition between the YSRCP vs Congress and YSRCP VS TDP in  few constituencies.
In Narasapuram , Ramachandrapuram, Tirupathi and Nellore there would be a close contest between
YSRCP AND congress. YSRCP will win the Narsapuram and Ramachandrapuram with very less majority
but the Nellore Loksabha seat and the Tirupathi  Assembly seat is tough.
In Prathipadu and Macherla the contest will be tough between YSRCP and TDP. Here too ,
either the YSRCP or the TDP would win both the seats or share one each.

In Parakala there would be a close contest between the YSRCP and TRS.