2009 -- India Election -

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Chiru helps TDP to sweep, Cong goes under</b>
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Omer Farooq | Vijayawada
With only a day left for the second-phase electioneering to end for 140 Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, the main <b>Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) seems to be breezing ahead of the ruling Congress in the crucial belt of East and West Godavari and Krishna districts of coastal Andhra.</b>

Just as the region is a mix of fertile delta and dry uplands,<b> it is also a melting pot of the Kammas, Kapus, Setti Balija and Scheduled Castes. </b>And its importance lies in the fact that it accounts for 50 Assembly and seven Lok Sabha seats. Though initially one thought the region would witness a clean sweep by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) as he hails from West Godavari district which has pockets of concentration of his Kapu caste, the TDP’s surge looks certain now.

<b>The TDP owes its apparent gain to PRP’s dent into the traditional Kapu vote bank of the Congress. The TDP, which had a stronghold in the region but was routed by the Congress in 2004, now looks set for a comeback. The Congress wave here had helped it win 44 of the 50 Assembly seats.</b>
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<b>Besides the caste factor, careful selection of candidates, anti-incumbency against sitting members, internal trouble in Congress and populist promises of Chandrababu Naidu — especially the cash transfer scheme — too have infiltrated the public mind.</b>
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