Assembly election results rev up Seemandhra leaders

The impact of the results of the Assembly elections in four states was instant in Andhra Pradesh. The leaders of the Seemandhra have been jolted into action, after months of their inertia despite demands from people for some intervention.

The election results seem to have suddenly emboldened them - the Congress MPs have created history by asking for a vote of confidence against their own party in Lok Sabha.

Party leaders agree that the motion is certainly low on realism and high on symbolism; but they add that they have to make some last-ditch effort to establish their much-maligned credibility among the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. With no regional or national party expressly supporting the Congress leaders, the no-confidence motion is not expected to make any dent.

However, having already made a commitment to a separate state, the Congress seems to have few options left and will be forced to carry through the bifurcation or lose its chances of winning in any of the regions of the state - a fact that the MPs who proposed the no confidence are well aware of.

The BJP’s win in the four states seems to have crystallized the feeble attempts by the Seemandhra Congress leaders at defying their high command. While the six MPs of the ruling party, who gave the notice on no confidence, are firm against the party leadership’s efforts to cajole them, a long-term loyalist in Anantapur district, J C Diwakar Reddy, made the game spicier by coming out with an aggressive attack against the leadership, calling Congress ‘a dying party’ and asking Sonia Gandhi to stop the ‘Rahul damage’ and make way for younger leadership.

A feeling that many Congress leaders share but few express, he claims. But, the new Union ministers from Seemandhra still seem to cling to the party, with Chiranjeevi expressing outrage at the no confidence proposal as well as the protests on Sonia Gandhi’s birthday in the state.

The results also enhanced the negotiating power of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which at this point is quite confident of winning the elections on its own. K Chandrasekhar Rao, it is said, has no interest in pre-election alliances with any party but is gearing up to work the ground for post-election benefits.

The party has reportedly prepared survey reports to indicate its strengths in the Telangana region, to be presented to the Congress high command so that they can extract the maximum for the Telangana region. A Union cabinet berth for KCR, with a key portfolio, is said to be one of the many goals that TRS is eyeing for its post-poll plans.

But with the election results, TRS is more inclined to side with the BJP, which has already been making overtures, say insiders. “Who will run with a losing horse, especially when we can win the election on our own? The Congress needs to do something drastic to establish that it still has some existence. Beyond the Telangana Bill, which now seems inevitable, any way,” says a senior leader. That, of course, does not seem to stop the TRS from protesting against some clauses in the Bill, showing that they are not going to let the Congress take the entire credit for Telangana.

Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, with considerable mass support that he could garner without major hard work, has been making the rounds, consulting various parties. However, with no party prepared to plunge into early polls, especially with the BJP’s latest show, it is hard to say how much he can drum up against the Telangana Bill. The Telugu Desam Party, on the other hand, has hardly any space left for itself. Chandrababu Naidu continues to shoot angry arrows into the air, but nobody appears to get hit.

Political activity in Andhra Pradesh seems to have picked up momentum in the last two days and the exercise is more of a run-up to the polls, which seem closer than ever before to the beleaguered politicians of the State.