Cooking up an alliance as Naidu eats crow

V V Balakrishna
Last Updated : 11 Mar 2012 11:08:06 AM IST

HYDERABAD: Nothing heats up Andhra Pradesh like Telangana. As a hapless Telugu Desam (TDP)  boss N Chandrababu Naidu burns rubber through Andhra Pradesh trying to make a comeback, an alliance between arch enemy Y S Jagan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and K Chandrasekhara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) threatens to leave him out in the cold. It is important for the TDP to do well in the upcoming byelections in seven Assembly constituencies in the state. Political sources in Hyderabad say the YSRCP and the TRS are on a collusion course. The TDP sees TRS as its main threat in the Telangana region and YSRCP in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

On a phone call between Rao and Jagan, Naidu alleges, “It was to seek money from Jagan that Rao has been on the phone with him.”

TRS activists has been obstructing Naidu’s district tours. Telangana supporters hurled eggs and stones at Naidu’s convoy in many places. TRS activists do not obstruct tours. Naidu did not face opposition from the TRS when he held a dharna in Hyderabad. He alleges that former Congress minister Jupalli Krishna Rao, who resigned as an MLA and is now  a TRS candidate, is a Jagan man. “This shows the nexus between the YSRCP and TRS,” says Naidu.

Political circles are abuzz that YSRCP did not field candidates in six constituencies in Telangana because of a deal with the TRS.

The state Assembly has become a proxy battlefield for the byelections. The TRS, CPI and the BJP have decided to milk the current Budget Session in the Assembly to gain electoral advantage in Telangana region. After stalling the House for the first three days demanding the formation of Telangana, the TRS now wants to up the ante in order to squeeze mileage in the bypolls. The ruling Congress is pushed to a corner. After the poll debacle in UP and Punjab, the Congress plea that it has been left to the high command and the Centre to take the final decision on Telangana does not have credibility. “The Congress High Command is wary of creating a new state when it couldn’t come to power in existing states,” says a Congress MP.

The party has been resisting the TRS demand to adopt a resolution urging the Central government to move a T-Bill in Parliament. This is working well for the Telangana politicos, who would immediately hit the bypoll campaign trail after each adjournment.

A political polarisation is emerging in Andhra. Earlier, unlikely allies CPI and BJP had decided to back TRS in the House on the Telangana issue. Now they are working on their own strategies for the byelections. Meanwhile, rebel Congress MLAs owing allegiance to YSRCP said they will be back with a resounding majority. It appears the main victims of the TRS-YSRCP understanding are Chandrababu Naidu and the Congress party.