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ELECTIONS '96

Congress, TDP make impressive gains; BJP leads in four seats in AP

The ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh is leading in eight constituencies, the opposition Congress in 10 and the BJP in four places for which trends are available till now.

Union ministers S Jaipal Reddy (Mehbubnagar), K Yerram Naidu (Srikakulam) and Dr S Venugopalachary (Adilabad), former chief minister K Vijayabhaskara Reddy (Kurnool) and actress T Sarada (Tenali) are leading.

K Yerram Naidu has a margin of 52,000 votes over H Appaya Dora of the NTR-TDP at the end of the fifth round.

Former Union minister P Shiv Shanker (Tenali), former chief minister N Bhaskara Rao (Khammam) and noted character-actor K Satyanarayana (Machilipatnam) are trailing their rivals at the end of the first round of counting.

However, another film star U Krishnam Raju, who joined the BJP on election eve, is leading in Kakinada.

BJP state unit president Bandaru Dattatreya is leading in Secunderabad constituency, while APCC president Dr Mallikarjun, a former union minister, is trailing by more than 1,600 votes in Mehbubnagar constituency.

Trends indicated that the Telugu Desam Party is leading in Srikakulam, Amalapuram, Nizamabad, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Chittoor, Nagarkurnool and Tenali.

The Congress is forging ahead in Anakapalle, Nellore, Anantapur, Kurnool, Cuddapah, Rajampeta, Nandyal, Tirupati, Hindupur, Narsapur, Guntur, Bapatla and Narsaraopeta. Former chief minister N Janardhana Reddy is leading in Bapatla.

Former Union minister P Upendra is leading by 3,000 votes in the two assembly segments of Vijayawada constituency at the end of the first round of counting.

The BJP candidates are also ahead in Karimnagar and Rajahmundry, while the CPI-M was leading in Khammam and the CPI in Bhadrachalam.