There seems to be no end to the woes of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu now-a-days. He is confronted with problems one after the other since his party faced ignominious defeat for the second consecutive time in the 2009 Assembly elections.
Firstly, he was unable to take any decision on the controversial Telangana issue. With the leaders of both the regions divided and taking strong positions, Naidu was feeling suffocated. If he takes a decision in favour of separate Telangana, he is sure to incur the wrath of leaders of Seemandhra, and similarly, if he supports united Andhra Pradesh concept whole-heartedly, he would lose the support of Telangana leaders and people and the party would be wiped out in the region, as the Telangana sentiment is very strong. This problem has become a head-ache for him, particularly since the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram made an announcement in favour of Telangana state formation on December 9, 2009.
As though this was not enough, the tussle between the Nara and Nandamuri family is coming to the fore now and then, with his brothers-in-law N Harikrishna and N Balakrishana making open statements vehemently opposing the decisions and actions of Naidu. Junior NTR is also taking a dig at Naidu sometimes, clearly sending a message that all is not well with the TDP vis-à-vis the Nandamuri family. Needless to say, members of Nandamuri family feel that they are the real heirs of late NTR and hence they have a right to take over reigns of the party sometime or the other.
The recent developments in Krishna district are giving jitters to Naidu as Junior NTR was encouraging his friends cum political leaders to think on joining hands with the YSRCP. Vijayawada Urban TDP president Vallabhaneni Vamshi openly met the YSRCP Chief YS Jagan on the day Vangaveeti Radha joined YSRCP on April 27. TDP MLA from Krishna district and close friend of Junior NTR, Kodali Venkateshwara Rao (Nani) was also in line to join YSRCP, it is learnt. All these developments were sending jitters to not only Naidu, but also to the TDP leaders in Coastal Andhra region.
On top of these two issues, some sections of the TDP senior leaders bidding good-bye to the party has become a routine affair of late, giving jitters to Naidu. When he opted Devender Goud and C M Ramesh for Rajya Sabha seats recently, some leaders of the party aired their opposition openly, while some others kept quiet though they got angry over the decision, ignoring many senior leaders who stayed with the party through thick and thin.
JAGAN FACTOR
The Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy launching his new political outfit has added to Naidu’s woes, with some of the leaders from both Telangana and Seemandhra regions joining the Jagan bandwagon. Insiders say that the growing popularity of Jagan in the State is causing much worry to Naidu, who feels that YSRC would give a tough fight to TDP in the coming elections, more than the Congress. Naidu is mounting a tirade against Jagan and late Dr YSR on many counts; but Jagan is effectively replying to him on all counts, thoroughly exposing him (Naidu) in matters of corruption, neglect of agriculture during his regime and what not. While Naidu is claiming he is above board, leaders of almost all parties were questioning him why he has been approaching Courts and stalling inquiries into the allegations that were leveled against him. As a result, the people were not believing his words.
The Congress on one hand, the YSRC on the other, the TRS, BJP, the left parties and the Lok Satta mounting scathing attack on the faulty policies of Naidu, was totally blunting the campaign of Naidu against the Congress, YSRC and others. The left parties, which were friendly to TDP sometime back, were not prepared to support it now, on many issues. Thus, the TDP was isolated on some important issues, and this has become a matter of concern for Naidu.
In this background, the TDP is now making all-out efforts to win at least half of the 18 Assembly seats going to by-election on June 12, and thus show that the party is not totally dead, but alive. Observers, however, feel that Naidu might not achieve this, as the people did not believe in his promises, in view of many anti-people, anti-working class and anti-farmer decisions taken by him as Chief Minister. The by-elections would decide the fate of the TDP in the coming days, observers feel. (NSS)