The Telugu Desam Party along with its allies the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jana Sena Party won the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls on Tuesday, data from the Election Commission showed.

Andhra Pradesh has 175 Assembly seats, and the majority mark is 88.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party won 112 seats as of 9 pm, according to the Election Commission. The Jana Sena Party has won 20 and the Bharatiya Janata Party won five seats.

The incumbent Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party has won only four seats so far and leading in eight constituencies.

In Odisha, the BJP has won 50 seats while the incumbent Biju Janata Dal has won 38 seats, while the Congress has won seven seats. Odisha has 147 Assembly constituencies, with 74 being the halfway mark.

Also read: How did the BJP sweep Odisha?

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Counting of votes for the Assembly elections in the two state began on Tuesday at 8 am.

The counting of postal ballots began first, in accordance with the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The counting of votes polled with Electronic Voting Machines started 30 minutes later.

The Assembly elections were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. State elections in Andhra Pradesh were held in a single phase on May 13, while those in Odisha were held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.

The counting of votes in the state polls in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim took place on Sunday. The BJP retained power in Arunachal Pradesh with a greater majority. In Sikkim, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won by a landslide.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 81.86%, about 2% higher than the 2019 election.

Most national exit polls on the Andhra Pradesh Assembly election predicted that the National Democratic Alliance, comprising the Telugu Desam Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and Jana Sena Party would defeat the incumbent YSR Congress Party. Some local pollsters, however, tipped the YSR Congress to retain power.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, the YSR Congress Party clinched 151 of the 175 Assembly seats. The Telugu Desam Party had won 23 seats. Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party had won one seat.

This time, there was a tight contest between the YSR Congress Party and Telugu Desam Party, which returned to the Nationalist Democratic Alliance in March. Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party has allied with the Telugu Desam Party.

The ruling YSR Congress Party aimed to consolidate its position by leveraging its welfare schemes and development initiatives, including Jagananna Ammavodi, under which mothers get financial assistance for their children’s education.

The Opposition Telugu Desam Party’s campaign sought to counter its rival’s policies with promises of progress and development. Party chief and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought to strike an emotional chord with voters, saying that it would be his last election, according to The Indian Express.

Odisha

Odisha registered a polling percentage of 75.6% in the first phase, 73.5% in the second phase, 74.55% in the third phase and 74.41% in the fourth phase, PTI reported. The overall voter turnout for the Assembly election has not been released yet.

Some exit polls have predicted a tight contest between the Biju Janata Dal and BJP, while some have tipped the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led party to win its sixth term.

The Biju Janata Dal and BJP were locked in a close contest in the parliamentary elections as well as the Assembly polls. Although the Biju Janata Dal had often supported the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in Parliament, the two parties turned into foes in the state during the poll campaign.

The BJP campaign in the state targeted Patnaik’s close aide and bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian for his Tamil identity. The BJP has used this emotive issue along with an anti-incumbency sentiment against Patnaik, who has been the chief minister for 24 years.

However, Patnaik clarified that Pandian is not his political successor and that the former bureaucrat did not contest the elections.

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