Hyderabad: In a jolt to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ahead of the local body elections, former minister and two-time MLA Dokka Manikya Varaprasad Rao on Monday resigned from the primary membership of the TDP and joined the YSRCP in the presence of its president and Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office.
In his letter addressing party activists and his followers, the former MLA had expressed displeasure over the functioning of party top leadership, particularly that of N Chandrababu Naidu. In the letter, he explained the reasons for quitting the primary membership of the party saying he was deeply saddened by the mistreatment of the TDP leadership ever since he lost 2019 elections to YSRCP candidate Mekathoti Sucharitha. He stated in his letter that the party had asked him to contest from the Prathpadu constituency, TDP’s bastion in the district, in the last minute. The senior leader said he was keen on contesting from the Tadikonda seat but the TDP top brass had decided to field him from the Prathipadu constituency (SC reserved) despite knowing too well that he will lose the elections. Since its inception in 1983, TDP had lost Prathipadu constituency only thrice.
Speaking to mediapersons after joining the YSRCP, Dokka said “I was to join the YSRCP in 2015 but my guru Rayapati Sambasiva Rao garu convinced me to join the TDP. I am impressed with the policies and administration of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. In the last nine months of his administration, the chief minister has announced a slew of measures to help the poor.”
In January 2020, Dokka Varaprasad had quit as TDP MLC saying he decided to quit in protest against the trifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Dokka had fiercely opposed Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s three-capitals’ idea and even skipped the special Council session held on the issue of State capital. The TDP top brass was apparently upset over Dokka’s move to quit the council an hour before the legislative council took up the debate on the three-capital plan.
Dokka Varaprasad began his political career with the Congress and was with the party for more than fifteen years before his mentor Rayapati Sambasiva Rao convinced him to join the TDP. He had served as MLA for two terms in 2004 and in 2009, but did not contest in 2014 elections.
TDP had been fraught with a series of exit of high-profile leaders that has left the party rattled. In the past, Vallabhaneni Vamsi, representing Gannavaram Assembly Constituency of Vijayawada, quit the party accusing the TDP boss of mismanaging the party. Another well-known leader from the Guntur West Assembly segment had bid good-bye to the TDP to join the YSRCP. Like Vamsi, he has also criticised Naidu and met Jagan. Following the footsteps of senior leaders, Devineni Avinash, a young leader from Vijaywada who lost on TDP ticket in the last elections, joined the ruling party. Former chairman SC Corporation, Jupudi Prabhakar Rao, quit the TDP to join the YSRCP.
The exit of Dokka and several key senior leaders from the TDP does not bode well for seasoned politician like Chandrababu Naidu who earlier suffered a setback when four TDP Rajya Sabha MPs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is not just in Andhra Pradesh alone that the TDP has lost top leaders to YCP, but also in Telangana where the party is seen as pro-Andhra and The TRS had systematically targeted the TDP (that it is pro-Andhra and anti-Telangana), he claimed
Chandrababu Naidu has to evolve a strategy to keep his flock together and ensure that his support base will not weaken further. Naidu needs to strengthen the TDP organisationally and come up with a better management to keep his rank and file in good humour. He has to learn from his past miscalculations and reinvent himself to stay afloat else he will have to wage a war of survival. If exodus of important leaders continues, one wonders if Naidu will continue to be the leader of the opposition. The TDP boss needs to strengthen the party organisationally and come up with a better management to keep his rank and file in good humour.
