Babu takes T with a smile

By VV Balakrishna

Last Updated :

HYDERABAD: In a decision that is bound to usher in far reaching changes in the state polity, Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced that his party would favour creation of a separate Telangana State, ending the three-year-long suspense on his party’s stand on the issue. Naidu made the announcement after the party politburo discussed the decision of its core committee on Telangana and adopted a resolution favouring a separate State.With it, decks have been cleared for an alliance that Naidu is keen to forge with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the two Left parties –– CPI and CPM. According to party insiders, Naidu rang up TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao and leaders of the two Left parties last night to inform them of his decision. The TDP chief ’s announcement could not have come at a better time. It has forced both the Congress and the Chiranjeevi-led Praja Rajyam on the defensive. Chiranjeevi, who has hit the streets in Srikakulam district this evening, will have to clarify his stand on Telangana since it is now more or less certain that the outcome of the 2009 general elections will hinge on the issue. PCC president D Srinivas, who hails from Telangana, had no other option but to welcome Naidu’s decision for he knows fully well the repercussions of a word against Telangana. The Congress will now be under tremendous pressure to find ways to win the hearts of the Telangana people in the face of a spirited attack from the TDP-TRS-Left formation for its ‘doublespeak’ on Telangana. ‘‘Let us see what the Congress will do now,’’ said Naidu, sounding like the Grandmaster after making a perfect move. Though he claimed that the decision was an endorsement of the opinion of the people of Telangana, it seems the TDP has come out with its new chorus only to sew up an electoral alliance with the TRS and ride to power in the State in the next elections. ‘‘I am 100 per cent sure that both the Andhra and Telangana people will welcome our decision and my party will come back to power,’’ Naidu said. The TDP, which appeared to be in a hopeless situation just six months ago, has got a new lease of life with the TRS sending signals that it is not opposed to working with the TDP and the CPM, with which it has sealed an alliance. Though the CPI is a little ambivalent in choosing between Naidu and Chiranjeevi, leaders of the party admit that the party will have to toe the CPM line. Another advantage the TDP-led alliance would have in future is that if the people of the two other regions - Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra - are convinced that Naidu will be able to win a majority of the seats in the Telangana region, they may vote for him since people tend to support a party on the ascendancy.