TDP gearing up for next round of bypolls

VV Balakrishna
Express News Service
Last Updated : 25 Mar 2012 11:06:15 AM IST

HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam has started the exercise to win the next round of byelections which will be held in the state for 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat. Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has started consulting party seniors from the constituencies for where the byelections are due following the disqualification or acceptance of the resignations of pro-Jagan MLAs/MP.

According to party sources, Naidu is taking care to select the right candidates as the main opposition party is determined to win at least some seats to boost the morale of the cadre which is dispirited after the humiliating defeat in the recent byelections for seven Assembly seats.

He has already asked the leaders of district units to suggest the names of at least three candidates, who have some following, from each constituency for consideration for party ticket.

Naidu appointed Chadalavada Krishna Murthy as in-charge of the party’s Tirupati Assembly constituency.

The TDP is determined to win the seat which will be vacated soon by Chiranjeevi who has been elected to the Rajya Sabha on Congress ticket.

"Naidu asked us to send the report without any bias. We are identifying the probable candidates who have mass base and are well-known to the people of the constituency. No personal interests will be involved in short-listing the candidates,” an MLA from Rayalaseema said.

In the recent bypolls the party lost deposits in five of the six constituencies in Telangana.

This led to criticism from some Telangana leaders that Naidu selected leaders who are not so popular in their constituencies. That is why Naidu wanted the district leaders to suggest names this time.

So far Naidu has completed meetings with leaders from Anantapur district will meet West Godavari district leaders on March 25, Srikakulam district leaders on March 26, Kadapa leaders on March 27 and Guntur district leaders on March 28, according to party sources.

TDP finds solace in vote percentage

Express News Service
Last Updated : 22 Mar 2012 07:50:02 AM IST

HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has improved its voting percentage after worst defeats in 2010 byelections. However, the bitter part is that the party is in the third place in some segments and behind the ruling Congress.

“There is a vast difference between 2010 bypolls and the latest round,” TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said. In 2010 bypolls, even TDP local leaders were scared of touring in Telangana. The party was unable to face TRS. This time, Naidu toured extensively in the region. He took TRS and its chief K Chandrasekhara Rao head on and yet got a good number of votes. Even PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana and Chiranjeevi could not tour in the region. “People in Telangana region believed our words to some extent,” Naidu said.

“Last time, our candidates got only four to five thousand votes. This time, the victory margins of TRS have come down,” said Telangana Telugu Desam Forum convenor E Dayakar Rao.

TDP leaders say Congress, as the ruling party, had some advantages and resources and so it performed better than TDP in some segments. Four of TDP candidates quit and contested again. They damaged the party and its infrastructure. Yet, the party was able to build its infrastructure within no time to give a spirited fight, they say.

On Kovur bypoll, the TDP was of the opinion that the party performed well. The victory margin of YSRC was less compared to the byelections held in Kadapa and Pulivendula. “People understood the difference between corruption of YSRC and the development of TDP,” a party senior added.

“We have to analyse the outcome of the bypolls in detail. We will come out with an action plan soon,” Naidu said.

TDP’s critics say the party is finished. “The Congress and the TDP can not improve further in the state,” said BJP state president G Kishan Reddy.

However, Naidu is confident that just six months time before the next elections is sufficient to turn the tide in favour TDP.

After the results are out, Naidu held a meeting with Anantapur district leaders to finalise candidates for the byelections in Rayadurgam and Anantapur segments.

BJP is victor in this 'Indo-Pak cricket match'

VV Balakrishna
Express News Service
Last Updated : 22 Mar 2012 11:13:49 AM IST

HYDERABAD: “The bypoll in Mahbubnagar is exciting like Indo-Pak cricket match,” BJP state president G Kishan Reddy said during his election campaigns. And, that’s how the the BJP scored over TRS and won with simple majority in the photo-finish.

The communal division between voters is said to be one of the main reasons for the victory of BJP candidate Yennam Srinivasa Reddy. Telangana sentiment, Srinivasa Reddy’s rapport with TRS cadre (he was with TRS before) and the ‘non-local’ factor of TRS candidate Syed Ibrahim also helped BJP get one Assembly seat in the Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha segment represented by TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao.

Telangana sentiment was strong, but voters were split on communal lines, which benefited BJP. In a similar fight, BJP candidate Y Lakshminarayana won the 2010 bypolls  from Nizamabad, crushing the then PCC chief D Srinivas.

“The victory in Mahbubnagar means voters have acknowledged BJP as a pro-Telangana force. As a national party, BJP created three new states. BJP alone can deliver Telangana state,” claimed BJP president Kishan Reddy.

It was also true that the BJP was consolidating its position in Telangana. Top BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and others toured the region extensively and supported separate Telangana state. “Give us seats and take your state” was the slogan of BJP in 2009 elections.

Since then, the BJP put in concerted efforts like Kishan Reddy’s Palle Yatra and recent Telangana Poru Yatra. It also took a bold step advocating division of the state in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, which fetched support for the party to some extent in the Telangana region.

Will Lokesh Emerge As AP's Akhilesh?

 TDPleaders hope so but Naidu just smiles at the comparison


Hyderabad: Will it be the turn of Nara Lokesh in Andhra Pradesh to ascend to power after the stupendous success of Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh? A large number of Telugu Desam leaders are comparing Lokesh, the lone son of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, with Akhilesh. Though the TDP had thought that Mulayam Singh Yadav would be the next chief minister of UP, the Samajwadi Party legislature party selected his young son for the post.
Now, the TDP leaders are of the opinion that the gen-next in TDP will be Nara Lokesh. The leadership is struggling to infuse young blood into the 30-year-old party and is eagerly waiting for the gen-next leader to emerge.
Though Lokesh's entry into politics seems imminent, it will take some more time for him to take the plunge as he is busy looking after Heritage Foods, his family's business concern.
Mulayam Singh Yadav is 72 but Naidu is only 62, and hale and hearty. Naidu  is nursing the ambition to become chief minister again and, at the same time, play a pivotal role in national politics by reviving the non-Congress and non-BJP third front.
When journalists told Naidu recently that TDP leaders were comparing his son  with Mulayam's, he just smiled and moved away without giving a reply.
Lokesh's entry into politics began in 2009 elections when he acted as his father's poll campaigning manager in Kuppam. He camped there for seven days  managing things for his father. During electioneering Lokesh wished that more and more youngsters join politics to root out corruption.
At last year's Mahanadu, TDP's annual conclave, a huge number of flexies and cutouts of Lokesh were erected hailing his leadership. That upset NTR Jr's fans in the party. Nipping the trouble in the bud, Naidu ordered removal of the flexies of his family members.
But, Naidu will utilise the services of Nandamuri Balakrishna and make him be the star campaigner for TDP in the 2014 general election. Lokesh's services will be used for Kuppam. Though there is talk that Lokesh Naidu will contest the Assembly election from Chandragiri in 2014, the senior Naidu dismissed the talk.
For the time being, Lokesh's political activities will be limited to Kuppam and will slowly emerge as a leader in his own right, analysts say. Though no TDP leader has objected to the entry of Lokesh into politics, his rise will be slow so that no senior leader should feel that Lokesh has been thrust on them suddenly.
For his part, Lokesh is not averse to politics completely and he occasionally chipped in to help his father. It was basing on Lokesh' idea that the TDP chief had announced the cash transfer scheme (CST) during the 2009 elections. The CST will be the main election plank of the party in the 2014 elections too. Naidu always told his critics that he provided his son the best education and groomed him as a good citizen.


Advantages
* Being son of Naidu and grandson of NTR
* MBA graduation from Stanford University
* Study of governance in various countries
* Idea of Cash Transfer Scheme
* Experience in poll management at Kuppam

Disadvantages
* Yet-to-be-proved oratory skills
* Rivalry with NTR Jr in succession war
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