The TDP chief and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly N Chandrababu Naidu running out of ideas was evident from his latest decisions, which sparked differences within the party.
If his surprising move to dash off a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to call for an all-party meeting to take a final call on State bifurcation or T-statehood led to one of its office-bearers and senior Rayalaseema leader Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy quitting the party and another threatened to follow suit. Several fence-sitters, who realized the party’s future poll prospects are very bleak, have already made up their mind to leave the sinking ship. Added to their displeasure over the party leadership’s functioning also coincides with the poll-surveys being conducted by some national media houses, indicating gloomy future to once powerful regional party.
If Naidu’s decision to form ‘Mahakutami” by aligning with TRS in 2009 general elections eroded the party’s hold in its erstwhile north coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts, his ‘two-eyed policy’ wiped out the party’s ‘vote bank’ in most volatile and emotionally surcharged Telangana region. This was evident from the way the party’s nominees drew a blank in all those by-polls held after 2009 elections. If some of the party leaders left the party and joined the separatist TRS, others either joined the YSRC or remained as Independents.
Unwilling to learn lessons from the past, Naidu continue to commit mistake after mistake and the latest being the “Letter to PM for convening an all-party” meet, which none asked. All the pro-Telangana parties have asked Naidu to spell out his party’s stand either way – either in favor of State bifurcation or against it. They also reminded the TDP leader that they indeed appreciated the CPM, which had taken the stand against State bifurcation and hence had no qualms whatsoever. On the contrary, the CPI had announced its support to the T-cause and fighting for it.
This apart, Naidu’s BC declaration and now15 per cent reservations to minority Muslims in Assembly seats also bound to fuel crisis in the party. Was Naidu’s latest move to lure minorities in a bid to checkmate the AIMIM decision to expand its electoral space?
If the fresh skirmishes are any indication of the frustration within the party’s rank and file reaching flash point, many a political analyst feels that Naidu’s proposed “Long Walk” or “Meekosam Nenu Vastunna” may as well prove a damp squib. “He has undoubtedly lost the past ‘midas’ touch in rejuvenating party’s rank and file,” a senior party functionary confessed on condition of anonymity. (NSS)