NEWS
VIEWS
INTERVIEWS
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ISSUES '98
MANIFESTOS
OVERHEARD
INDIA SPEAKS!
YEH HAI INDIA
CHAT

State:	Andhra Pradesh
Constituency:	Guntur
Total Votes Polled:	745023
Winner: INC	Rayapatisamba Siva Rao	343252
Runner Up: TDP	Lal Jan Basha S M	274753
Margin: 68499 (9.34%)

Once again, the NTR-TDP factor. Winning 89,098 votes, Makineni Peda Rathaiah ensured that Basha -- who won the seat in 1991 -- was vanquished. The Congress increased its vote share marginally from 45.3 % in 1991 to 46.82 % in 1996. The combined TDP vote was 49.62 %, better than what Basha did in 1991 (47.6%) Former minister K Raghuramaiah won the seat five times from 1957 to 1977 while veteran Congressman N G Ranga won it thrice, from 1980 to 1989.