Once upon a time, this district was deemed an impregnable fortress for the TDP. It gave some of its biggest leaders and played a critical role in enhancing TDP’s prospects. But today, the TDP is much weakened, dispirited in this very district.

Yes. We are talking about West Godavari district. Once a stronghold, the district today is one of the weakest links in TDP’s organizational chain. The cadre and the leaders are completely demoralized.

The district has 15 MLA seats, of which the TDP has just two seats. In the 2019 elections, only Nimmala Rama Naidu from Palacole and Mantena Ramaraju from Undi could register victories. Several big names like Maganti Babu, Chintamaneni Prabhakar, Pithani Satyanarayana and KS Jawahar had to bite the dust.

Soon after the YSRCP came to power, it began witch-hunting firebrand leader Chintamaneni. He is now bogged down by cases and has withdrawn into a shell. Similarly, Maganti Babu too has been battling family tragedies and business losses. Ministers Pithani and Jawahar are seen only when the party calls for some protest. Otherwise, they are totally inactive.

Of the two MLAs, Mantena Rama Raju of Undi is said to be in sleep mode. He has not taken part in any party programmes in recent times. Only Rama Naidu is active in party affairs. Only he is seen addressing press conferences and planning protests.

To add to the TDP woes, the party fared poorly in the recent elections to the gram panchayat, mandal and district parishads. The performance was so poor that the cadre are now in self-protection mode. Many are leaving the TDP in drones. The party leaders are doing nothing to arrest this trend. No leader of repute has toured the district or even held virtual meets to boost the morale of the party in the district.