Defining the discourse on a new power trip

By V V Balakrishna - HYDERABAD

Published: 01st Sep 2013 10:34:01 AM

    There are many voices in the present Andhra political scenario and everyone is singing their own tune leading to a cacophony. Most of the parties lack a face that can win hearts hands down across Seemaandhra and Telangana. Could this be a golden opportunity for TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, especially in the light of his bus yatra starting from September 1?
Despite the massive separate state movement in Telangana region, TDP’s cadre base has not eroded fully. There is a vast majority who still believe that Naidu is a good administrator and the party can play an important role in laying the foundation of Telangana.
Since Naidu belongs to Ralayaseema, he had a good following there even after the emergence of the YSRC. In coastal Andhra, TDP won considerable number of Gram Panchayats in the recent local body elections to drive home the point that it is in a resurgence mood. This also indicates that the TDP cadre has not left the party at the grassroots level, even though several big leaders ditched the party in the last four years and joined TRS and YSRC. “TDP cadre base is intact. Some big leaders may leave the party for their selfish ends. But, the ordinary workers are keeping the party flag high,” Naidu repeatedly says.
In this scenario, Naidu is determined to project himself as the only big leader in the state with a vast experience.
It may be recalled that for the past one month people of Seemandhra have been on roads demanding the Centre to keep the state united. However, Naidu continued his pro-Telangana stance and has not deviated from this stand even after the CWC’s decision. Naidu is confident that the people in Seemandhra will understand his stand on state’s division, if the concerns of the Seemandhra people are addressed properly.
“There are concerns among Seemandhra people about water, jobs, education, sharing of revenue and the status of Hyderabad. Justice should be done to Seemandhra,” Naidu said. “If proper justice is done, then everyone would accept the division of the state,” Naidu averred.
After almost nine year rule in the state, the Congress has no big leader with mass appeal to influence the voters. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s open opposition against the formation of Telangana leaves him with any fan following in the region. Even a few Seemaandhra leaders believe if the 2011 Telanagana package was implemented by the chief minister, the bifurcation could have been well avoided. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botcha Satyanarayana’s influence too is limited to his own district. Moreover, it is widely known that there is no love lost between Kiran Reddy and Botcha Satyanarayana.
The YSR Congress (YSRC) supremo Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been in jail for more than a year and already lost ground in Telangana region.
TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao impressed the people on two counts. He achieved T-state after a 13-year long fight. Immediately after the CWC’s decision, TRS chief rolled out a big action plan called “My Dream Telangana”. He listed out various welfare and developmental programmes that would be developed after its formation. Though, Rao is a towering leader in Telangana region he is a non-entity in Andhra. However, even after the division of the state, TRS chief has his own "weakness".
“You know that my weakness is Telangana. I can’t say no for the merger, if the Congress put a condition to divide the state,” Rao said.
It means that if TRS is merged with the Congress after the division, Rao may lose his earlier clout in Telangana politics.
Bus Yatra
Naidu will start his bus yatra on September 1 from Pondugala village in Gurajala mandal in Guntur district. He will cover Gurajala, Sattenapalle, Pedakurapadu, Tadikonda and Mangalagiri Assembly segments. After seven days tour, Naidu will enter Krishna district. Here he will cover Gannavaram, Nuzvidu, Tiruvur, Machilipatnam and Pedana Assembly segments. The Assembly segments covered by Naidu this time were not covered by him earlier during his ‘Vastunnaa Mee Kosam Padayatra’.
Naidu’s main focus during the yatra is to expose the alleged nexus between YSRC and Congress in Seemandhra, like he exposed the nexus between Congress and TRS in Telangana region.
 “AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh said the DNA of YSRC and Congress are same. While making the CWC statement on division of AP, Digvijaya Singh stated that TRS would be merged with Congress,” Naidu said while highlighting the nexus of sub-regional parties YSRC and TRS with Congress.
Naidu will also draw a comparison of his nine-year rule (1999-2004) with the nine-year rule of Congress (2004-13) during the yatra. He will explain people that the state witnessed rapid development during TDP regime. Now, development has taken a backseat.