Chandrababu Naidu , the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, became a cynosure of Telangana elections. The TDP as acknowledged by Naidu himself made a desperate bid to ally with TRS , but ended up in the congress camp. The incremental addition the congress might provide to the TDP kitty in Andhra Pradesh has, perhaps, prompted Chandrababu Naidu to experiment with congress led combine in Telangana. His national political ambitions has also brought him nearer to congress leadership. Thus , he was more than eager to ensure a win for congress led combine in Telangana. Amidst reports of peoples front improving and psephologists like Lagadapati Rajagopal predicting a congress come back, Chandrababu Naidu was desperate to convince the congress leadership that he authored Telangana mandate for the grand old party. Perhaps Naidu saw an opportunity in Telangana elections to tell the electorate back home in his state that he can make and unmake governments. Thus Chandrababu Naidu invested a lot in Telangana elections evident from the fact that he was the most prominent campaigner than even the state congress leaders. Besides, Naidu chose to field granddaughter of NT Rama Rao , Suhasini to send a message that he has even personal stakes in Telangana elections. Balakrishna and several minsters of Andhra Pradesh descended on the campaign trail. But, over enthusiasm ultimately proved to be counterproductive for congress. Even when the congress was on winning spree in north India , the party failed to wrest the key south Indian state.
However, in a shrewd move, KCR converted a threat into opportunity when the Congress and TDP joined hands to reap the dividend of favourable electoral arithmetic. KCR has successfully presented the Congress -TDP alliance as a sell out to Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, thus triggering Telangana sentiment yet again.
Naidu’s intense campaign has sent wrong signals to core Telangana voter who perceived it as an attempt to dominate the politics of state. It may be recalled here that people of Telangana fought for separate state on the question of political domination of Andhra . The TRS and KCR and his son KTR tried to paint the contest as something between the Telangana son of the soil , KCR and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
KCR invoked Telangana pride and frequently referred to the letters allegedly written by Naidu in the latter’s capacity as the Chief Minister of Andhra, raising objections to the irrigation projects in the state. He further described the Congress- alliance with the TDP as selling the state’s interests to Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation. Although Naidu gave a letter supporting the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh for political benefit, it is widely believed that he was opposed to the division of the state. In fact, he called June 2, the day Telangana state was formed, as a dark chapter, alleging arbitrary bifurcation.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which KCR is the President of, has capitalised on the popular belief that Naidu was against the formation of the new state.
“Chandrababu Naidu has 175 seats. Why should he encroach on Telangana politics?” said KCR. It is a tightrope walk for Naidu. His political rivals back in Andhra — the YSR Congress Party and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena — decided not to contest in the Telangana elections. Thus TDP’s foray into Telangana elections was under fire from TRS.
The Congress, after a careful cost-benefit analysis, chose to ally with a party led by the Andhra Chief Minister. The sizeable presence of Seemandhra electorate in Telangana and the traditional political base for TDP prompted the Congress to sail with Naidu.
Though the TDP was crippled, most legislators who won on a TDP ticket in 2014 defected to the TRS thanks to the persistent politics of ‘Operation Akarsh’ (to poach leaders) and even became ministers in the KCR cabinet. However, the Congress leadership believed that the TDP still has something significant to add to favourable electoral arithmetic.
However, the perils of rising Telangana sentiment thanks to TRS onslaught hurt the Congress, which hoped to make a comeback in the new state that it delivered, braving acute political cost in the other residuary state.
( Prof.K. Nageshwar is India’s noted political analyst. He is a former member of the Telangana Legislative Council and professor in the Department of Communication & Journalism, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India )
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