Going into this byelection, the TDP sounds a lot like the Lok Satta Party. It talks of `bigger’ problems such as development, Babhali project, weavers’ suicides, price rise, corruption. As an insider said, when a party fields `symbolic’ candidates such as Telangana suicide victims’ relatives, it means it is playing for the media coverage rather than the sweepstakes.
It is uncertain what the Telangana voter’s reaction to the Chandrababu Naidu’s sophistry will be. His two-eyes policy has left Telangana TDP leaders walking a tightrope. The moot question is whether the TDP will be able to convince voters that the TDP alone can fight for their `real’ problems.
Privately, TDP leaders admit that Sentiment is much stronger now than in earlier elections. In a candid admission, a TDP potential nominee said Telangana was the only issue in this byelection.
The ray of hope for him is that other issues may tilt the balance in his favour in the threecornered contest.
TDP chief Naidu will tell voters that Telangana witnessed rapid progress only during his nine-year tenure as chief minister. He will blame the Congress for the illegal construction of the Babhali project in Maharashtra and how SRSP, the main source of water for northern Telangana, dried up due to the ineffeciency of the Congress.
Naidu will enumerate the TDP’s efforts as an opposition party in dealing with issues related to Telangana. The TDP alone has waged a war against the illegal construction of Babhali since 2005. The TDP fought against printing the skull symbol on beedi rolls, the plight of Gulf victims, the weavers’ plight, etc.
Two-eyed Naidu’s difficulty in this byelection is that one of his eyes is perforce cocked to Coastal Andhra.
However, Naidu is a clever poll manager and will look to score some important points for his party. He will do his hard work on getting the caste equations right. The hope for the TDP lies in the fact that the PRP, the spoiler in 2009, is not in the fray now. Plus, the TDP has a strong cadre base in the region.
All said and done, the cards are stacked against TDP and it remains to be seen whether the TDP will be able to retain its Vemulavada seat at least.
- VV Balakrishna
