Chandrababu Naidu's TDP Dug Its Own Grave In Andhra Pradesh, Task Cut Out For YSRCP

Janadesh바카라� or 바카라�peoples verdict바카라� in Andhra Pradesh is extraordinarily exp­licit. At least for the next five years, it is the end of the road for Nara Chandrababu Naidu and his family fiefdom Telugu Desam Party (TDP).  In its four-decade long history, the TDP바카라�s tally of 20 out of 175 assembly seats is its lowest. Add to that a meager tally of three Lok Sabha seats. Credit is due to go to Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who achieved a rem­arkable feat바카라�His YSR Congress Party won 154 assembly seats, besides 22 of Andhra바카라�s 25 Lok Sabha seats. Surely, his 바카라�historic padayatras바카라� endeared him to the common man.

The key lesson: pre-poll freebies and tall promises cannot be a substitute for failing to deliver during a five-year term. Regional satraps like Naidu and K. Chandrasekhara Rao should also be wary of boundless amb­ition and overweening arrogance. Cronyism in the aid of corruption is another canker. Use of friendly media houses cannot fool an aspirational, young electorate for long too.

In 2014, Naidu led his TDP in alliance with the BJP to victory, as the people of Andhra felt the Congress had done them injustice by bifurcating the state in 2014. Reddy바카라�s YSRCP lost the polls but emerged as the principal opposition, winning nine Lok Sabha and 65 assembly seats. Even so, Reddy tirelessly consolidated his base amongst people, holding protest rallies and launching 바카라�padayatras바카라�.

Meanwhile, TDP chief Naidu failed to read the signs. Following the BJP바카라�s defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December, Naidu made the issue of a 바카라�separate category status바카라� for Andhra as his key poll plank. At the same time, he fashioned himself into the chief organising force of a tentative opposition coalition against the BJP.

바카라�Undoubtedly, our party chief himself is responsible for the defeat.  His decision to walk out of the NDA alliance just two years before polls and picking up unnecessary fights with PM Modi cost us heavily.  Add to that his confidence about winning polls without any alliance,바카라� admits a senior party leader. After his party바카라�s landslide victory, YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy said, 바카라�It바카라�s people바카라�s will that ultimately prevailed. Today, people of AP are free from the shackles of TDP misrule.바카라�

In Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who won 2014 polls purely on sentiment, also failed to read the political winds. However, in a tactically astute move, he advanced the assembly polls, fearing a possible 바카라�Modi wave바카라� during the LS polls, and won 89 of the 117 seats in the December 2018 polls.

Buoyed by that success, KCR boasted of winning 16 LS seats, besides nursing an ambition, like Naidu, of playing a role in an opposition 바카라�federal front바카라�. All in all, KCR바카라�s arrogance led to his party바카라�s poll reverse, particularly the defeat of his daughter Kavita. The TRS now stands reduced to a mere nine LS seats, conceding four to BJP and three to Congress.

In fact, KCR바카라�s strong criticism of Modi and his politics in Karimnagar was a turning point that hardened people바카라�s sentiments against him in politically crucial northern Telangana바카라�Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar. Add to it the sidelining of his nephew, K. Harish Rao, a popular leader, and appointing son K.T. Rao as the TRS president. Ipso facto, the writing on the wall is quite clear바카라�the defeat of Kavita is a rejection of dynastic politics. Also, the victory of D. Arvind of the BJP, son of erstwhile Congress stalwart D. Srinivas, is a reflection of people바카라�s anger on KCR바카라�s policy of 바카라�minority appeasement바카라�.