For a change chief minister Chandrababau Naidu, will don the role of the national leader of the Telugu Desam party and fully engage himself in the party affairs of Telangana and Telangana for a week. Though periodically he did interact with T-TDP leaders, but starting from tomorrow he would burn some midnight oil in brainstorming sessions on the improvement of TDP in new state. Naidu’s efforts to keep his bicycle zoon fast in the T-state hit a stumbling block when cash-for-vote scam surfaced. It was the end of his public participation in the T-TDP affairs. Now, in view of the election to GHMC and bypoll to the Warangal(SC) Lok Sabha constituency on November 21, Naidu will be seen rubbing shoulders with party leaders rather than bureaucrats.
Party sources said, Naidu will preside over TDP’s Telangana unit’s extended executive meeting on Nov 7 . The meeting is being convened to chalk out party strategy for the ensuing polls to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The elections are expected before end of January 2016. Emerging stronger in GHMC area is necessary for the party as TRS has vowed to banish the party from Telangana. TDP has once had a glorious presence in Hyderabad and it captured GHMC twice in the company of BJP. Now, TDP has to show a respectable performance in GHMC if it wants to remain force in Hyderabad. The party suffered a setback in Hyderabad with some of its key MLAs defecting to TRS. In 2014 elections, in GHMC area, the TDP-BJP alliance secured 14 of the 24 Assembly constituencies, while the MIM bagged seven and TRS three. The Congress, which ran the show in GHMC for two terms, drew blank. TDP won Kukatpally, Serlingampally, Sanatnagar, Maheshwaram, LB Nagar, Rajendranagar, Qutubullapur, Jubilee Hills and Secunderabad Cantonment while the BJP bagged Khairtabad, Goshamahal, Musheerabad, Uppal and Amberpet. This is direct fight between TDP-BJP alliance and TRS-MIM alliance. One goes by the strenth in Assembly the TDP-BJP alliance has clear edge over rival alliance. So, Naidu has to ensure that the 2014 performance repeated in the GHMC as well-a tough job indeed, given the complaints the ruling TRS-MIM were trying the eliminated many Seemandhra voters from voter list. Naidu has to evolve a strategy keeping this factor in mind. Another irritant for Naidu is that two its strong MLAs, Teegela Krinshna Reddy and Talasani Srinivasa Yadav have defected to TRS and they will work against the TDP while technically remaining as TDP MLAs.
Secondly, Naidu will also have to focus his attention on how to undertake vigorous campaign for the victory of BJP-TDP candidate in Warangal bypoll. Though he ticket has gone to BJP candidate Devaiah, as major party head, Naidu has to take it upon himself the responsibility of ensuring the win of BJP candidate. In Warangal as well Naidu’s grip has got weakened by the sudden defection of party’s Rajya Sabha MP Gundu Sudharani to TRS. Naidu has to devise campaign strategy to overcome all these setbacks.
After these meetings, Naidu will chair the party’s Andhra unit’s extended executive meeting at Tirupati on Nov 13 and 14. Later he will launch the ‘Intintiki TDP’ programme in every Assembly constituency in the two states from Nov 20 to 30. During the program, the TDP leaders in AP will publicize the State governments’ developmental programmes and welfare schemes among people.
