TDP’s dilemma in Telangana, Seemandhra: Woo turncoats or shun footsoldiers?

When Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu appealed to former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and film hero Pawan Kalyan (the youngest sibling of Union Minister K Chiranjeevi) to support him for the “common good” of the Telugus, staunch votaries of the TDP were shell shocked. Pawan Kalyan and Kiran Kumar are both contemplating the idea of floating new parties – the latter, in fact, announced the launch of is Jai Samaikyandhra party. [caption id=“attachment_1403917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chandrababu Naidu. AFP.[/caption] The TDP is actually caught in a paradoxical situation in the state with several Congress leaders making a beeline to embrace it in the Seemaandhra region while a diametrically opposite situation prevails in Telangana. Some TDP leaders are either quitting the party to join the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) or are planning to stay away from electoral politics this time in Telangana. While the exits are treated as an unsavoury aside, the influx is portrayed as a great upside. If any senior TDP leader leaves the party, Chandrababu Naidu and his disciples would be prompt in switching to the rhetoric that the party loses nothing if a couple of leaders leave, as the cadres still remain loyally with the party. By the same logic, when leaders from other parties join the TDP, the question of whether they really bring any numbers into the TDP remains unanswered. The TDP leaders perceive that whenever a leader migrates into the TDP, he would bring along his entire support base. But when someone leaves the TDP, none would follow that leader. It is now the season of political turncoats all over the country, more so in Andhra Pradesh, considering its volatile political situation owing to the bifurcation of the state and sentiments ruling supreme. “I am welcoming only good people from the Congress into the party.” This has been the justification offered by Chandrababu Naidu whenever a leader from the Congress wants to cross over. The Telugu Desam Party, the YSR Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Seemaandhra region and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Telangana region are inducing leaders and cadre from the Congress that is in disarray. The TDP scores more marks on this count for it has attracted more than a dozen Congress legislators, of whom five are former ministers. A large chunk of the Congress cake from Kurnool district was scooped out and absorbed by the TDP. Another strongman from Anantapur district, JC Diwakar Reddy, the longest serving legislator in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, along with his brother, are almost at the “main entrance” of the NTR Trust Bhavan awaiting the formalization of their admission into the TDP. In fact, he was bracketed along with YS Jaganmohan Reddy by the TDP in the murder case of its leader Paritala Ravindra in 2005, which led to the “accused” facing a CBI probe. The TDP supremo apparently chose to ignore the concerns of the party cadres and second and third rung of leaders. There were quite a few instances that actually throttled even senior leaders, because of the admission of new leaders into the party. Frayed tempers became a common knowledge within the TDP in several Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies across the Seemandhra region. While some senior functionaries are taking up cudgels on behalf of the party supremo and are trying to cajole the leaders who are stoking rebellion, some hapless leaders are swallowing the bitter pills grudgingly. But their enraged supporters want to play truant in the elections. A very senior leader of the TDP and former Home Minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao was “subtly hinted” at shifting to the neighbouring Assembly seat, as surveys purportedly suggested that he might lose from his Narasaropet which he represented from 1983 to 2004 without break. What irked Dr Rao, a popular surgeon, was that he was asked to make way for accommodating the son of his arch rival, who offered to cross over from the Congress. Dr Rao actually nursed his electoral bastion with an image of being an epitome of a political antidote to the family of the longest-serving Congress Chief Minister of AP Kasu Brahmnanda Reddy, who was also AICC president and India’s Home Minister. Similarly, several corporates, including Galla Jayadev, Managing Director of Rs. 2,500-crore Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, were enticed into the TDP. Chandrababu Naidu is proposing to field them from constituencies where the TDP built a strong cadre over the years. Whether the numerous new faces inducted from the Congress would do any good for the party and whether the foot-soldiers of the party would accept the new leaders has puzzled the analysts. The dichotomy in Telangana is more palpable than it was actually perceived initially within the ranks of the party. Several senior leaders began angling for the position of presidency of the Telangana TDP unit. Naidu proposes to create two positions, including that of a working president. Most leaders don’t want to play second fiddle to a hot favourite who is several years junior to them and are contemplating pressing the eject button.