AP Polls: 91% winning candidates with criminal records secured more than 50% vote share

Amaravati: A staggering 91 per cent of the candidates who won the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections have criminal cases against them and have won with a vote share of 50 per cent and above, according to an analysis by poll rights body, Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The total strength of the AP Legislative Assembly is 175 seats.

Winners with declared criminal cases and their margin of victory

The 62 MLAs out of a total of 139 who won with declared criminal cases have won against a runner-up with a clean background.

Among these 62 winners, 12 winners have won with more than a 30 per cent margin of victory. Among these, Narayana Ponguru (TDP) from Nellore City constituency won with a 41.48 per cent margin of victory.

Winners with clean background and their margin of victory

The 11 MLAs out of the total 36 who won with a clean background have won against a runner-up with declared criminal cases.

Among these 11 winners, one winner has more than a 30 per cent margin of victory. Among these, Panchakarla Ramesh Babu (Jana Sena Party) from Pendurthi constituency won with a 35.57 per cent margin of victory.

Crorepati winners and their margin of victory

The seven MLAs out of 163 who won as crorepatis won against a non-crorepati runners-up. Among these seven winners, one winner has won with a more than 40 per cent margin of victory. Among these, Narayana Ponguru (TDP) from Nellore City constituency won with a 41.48 per cent margin of victory.

Non-crorepati winners and their margin of victory

The eight MLAs out of 12 who won as non-crorepati have won against a crorepati runners-up.

Among these eight winners, three winners have won with more than a 10 per cent margin of victory. Among these, Mohammed Naseer Ahmed (TDP) from the Guntur East constituency won with a 17.81 per cent margin of victory.

Vote Turnout

The winners of the 2024 Andhra Pradesh State Assembly elections won by an average of 55.82 per cent of the total votes polled.

In the 2019 elections, winners won by an average of 50.80 per cent of the total votes polled, according to the data released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

ADR and Andhra Pradesh Election Watch have analysed the vote share for all 175 constituencies in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections, 2024. The voter turnout for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly was 82.68 per cent whereas voter turnout in the 2019 Assembly elections was 79.70 per cent.

Vote share of winners

Out of the 175 Assembly constituencies, as many as 154 MLAs (88%) won with 50 per cent and above of the total votes polled in their constituency. The remaining 21 MLAs (12%) won with less than 50 per cent of the total votes polled in their constituency.

Representativeness of winners

All the MLAs of the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly Elections won with an average of 46.15 per cent of the total registered voters.

This implies that the winners represent on average, 46.15 per cent of the total electorate. In the 2019 AP Assembly Elections, winners won by an average of 40.48 per cent of the total registered voters.

Margin of victory

Two MLAs have won with a margin of victory of less than 1,000 votes. While four MLAs have won with more than a 40 per cent margin of victory.

Performance of women winners

Among the 175 winners, 22 are women. None of the women winners have won with less than 40 per cent of vote share.

Among the women winners, Aditi Vijayalakshmi Gajapathi Raju Pusapati (TDP) from Vizianagaram Constituency won with the highest vote share, i.e. 64.21 per cent in her constituency and 32.10 per cent margin of victory.

Performance of re-elected winners

Out of 28 re-elected winners, none have won with less than 40 per cent of vote share in their respective constituencies.

As many as 23 MLAs (82%) have won with more than 50 per cent of vote share. Six MLAs (21%) re-elected winners with less than a 10 per cent margin of victory whereas one MLA has won with more than a 40 per cent margin of victory.

NOTA

The NOTA button instated by the ECI in 2013 gave the voters the option of rejecting all the candidates in their constituency. Out of 3,37,40,584 votes polled in Andhra Pradesh elections, 3,69,320 (1.09%) were polled for NOTA.