Offering Yellow kanduva to one or two MLAs or former MLAs has become part of the daily schedule of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu these days. True to form, he converts every defection into a spectacular celebration and calls it the success of his developmental policy.
All important leaders would be invited to the meeting of followers, both original and hired , of the defector, and they would praise Naidu’s as the ‘Kaarana Janmudu’ and ‘Karmajeevi’. And delighted Naidu would speak justifying the praise lavished on him. The hall would be reverberated with claps, chants all around . But, what is not taken seriously in the hullabaloo is the internal resistance and dissidence the defections generating among the loyalists of the party.
It is clear that the defection enthusiasm has generated an equal amount of dissension in the party. It is expected to become more intense as Naidu inches towards 2019 elections because Naidu offered MLA tickets to all party senior leaders showing the proposal to hike the Assembly seats, which is not on BJP cards at the centre. This is going to be another poll promise.
After Ramasubbareddy and Shilpa Mohan Reddy, now TDP strongman from Prakasam district Karanam Balaram made apparent his wrath against Naidu’s policy of engineering and encouraging defections.
He blamed TDP and YSRC defectors equally. But, Karanam has attacked very mindset of Naidu in encouraging the defections. He found fault with Naidu’s approach in admitting the MLAs from opposition YSRC, who, he said, were joining the ruling party to save their ill-gotten wealth. He laid stress on the need to bring about a foolproof law to make defections impossible in any manner. This stand is clearly anti-Naidu and the very meaning of strengthening the party. Isn’t it bringing him closer to Jagan?
While Ramasubbareddy and Shilpa had simply resisted the defection because Naidu had admitted their arch rivals into TDP. But Karanam targeted Naidu’s mindset. He told this to media after his meeting with Naidu following his decision to admit Gottipati Ravkimar, his rival in Addanki. He made it clear that it would be impossible for him and his followers to forget how they had suffered when Ravikumar was MLA during Congress regime. Now, in Telugu Desam regime also, Ravikumar switched to ruling party to continue his control over the Addanki constituency. He said working with Gottipati in the constituency was unthinkable in Prakasam district.
Same was the situation in Jammalamadu (Kadapa district), Nandyal (Kurnool) constituencies. Come what may TDP senior leader and former minister Ramasubbareddy won’t compromise with C Adinarayana Reddy, YSR MLA, who joined TDP some time back. Would Shilpa settle down for peace with Bhuma Nagireddy? For the time being they may lie low because a confrontation with government would be a financial disaster for these regional satraps. They would strike at an opportune moment.
To silence the opposition to the defections, Naidu has committed another mistake by offering assembly tickets to sulking old-guards from the proposed increase of strength of Assembly, which the centre dismissed as not possible. Can Naidu extinguish the fire of dissidence without any damage?
