2004 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

The 2004 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election was held in April 2004 to elect members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The Indian National Congress (INC) won the election, winning 185 of the 294 seats, defeating the incumbent Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Following the election, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

On the recommendation of the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala dissolved the 11th Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 14 November 2003, to facilitate early elections and seek a fresh mandate. The tenure of the Assembly was originally scheduled to end on 9 November 2004. The state was being governed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the TDP in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with N. Chandrababu Naidu serving as Chief Minister since 1995. The tenure of the incumbent government saw a focus on economic development and IT sector growth, while the Telangana region witnessed strong regional sentiment and growing demands for a separate state, which led to the formation of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001.

The election marked the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh that the INC entered into a pre-poll alliance with a regional party. The INC led a coalition with the TRS, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) to challenge the incumbent NDA government.

The INC-led alliance performed well in the election, with INC, TRS, CPI and CPI(M) collectively securing 226 seats in the legislative assembly. As leader of the INC Legislature Party, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy was invited by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala to form the government. The government completed its full five year term, with the tenure of the Legislative Assembly due to expire on 30 May 2009. The Election Commission of India (ECI) scheduled the Assembly elections alongside the 2004 Indian general election, with polling in each Assembly constituency conducted in the same phase as the corresponding Parliamentary constituency.

The election schedule was announced by the ECI on 29 February 2004.

The alliance comprising the INC, TRS, CPI(M) and CPI jointly fielded 268 candidates with one candidate nominated in each constituency. In 22 constituencies, a friendly contest took place between alliance partners. Additionally, the alliance did not field candidates in four constituencies, Chittoor (140), Madanapalle (144), Uravakonda (169) and Waradhanapet (267).

After the election, the TRS which had allied with the INC, became unhappy with the delay in forming a separate Telangana state. In 2006, it withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance at the Centre. In March 2008, TRS leaders including K. Chandrasekhar Rao, resigned from the Lok Sabha, and 16 TRS MLAs resigned from the state assembly. By-elections were held in May 2008 and TRS won only some of the seats it had vacated, with INC and TDP winning the rest.