Is it ghar wapsi (home coming) for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu? The question tops discussions in AP as the embattled CM joined hands with the Congress to forge an anti-BJP front at the national level.
Naidu justified the decision as a ‘democratic compulsion’ to save the country from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘undemocratic rule’. The BJP and the opposition YSR Congress party termed it opportunism.
They claimed that Naidu’s move will make NT Rama Rao, who founded the Telugu Desam Party in 1982, turn in his grave. The thespian who rode to power in 1983 on an anti-Congress plank opposed it till his last breath.
Political compulsions in both the Telugu States — AP and Telangana — forced Naidu to embrace Congress. He is under siege from the opposition YSR Congress and its chief Jaganmohan Reddy in his home turf. He also faces a hostile Centre in the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the BJP-led NDA Government with which he had allied in 2014.
Naidu fell back on the last option of aligning with the Congress. But, the 68-year-old veteran has moved to the national level to take on the BJP rather than get bogged down in AP. After all, 23 years ago, Naidu was the ‘kingmaker’ in the United Front coalitions as well as the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee during 1995-2004.
Fight for survival
Will the gamble pay off as he fights for his and TDP’s survival this time? The developments in the next few months will determine. Naidu has succeeded in infusing energy into the disparate opposition groups. The meetings and reactions in the national capital reflect it. He has been very vocal in asserting his 40 years of political life and being the senior most, active politician.
He began his career with the Congress (I) from Chittoor in the then unified AP. Rose to become the Minister of Cinematography in the jumbo cabinet of T Anjaiah, where he met the matinee idol NTR, whose son-in-law he would soon become.
Interestingly, Naidu did not trust NTR, when he and Nadendla Bhaskara Rao launched the TDP and swept to power in a record nine months decimating a strong Congress (I) in 1983. But, after joining the victorious party there was no stopping him as he quickly became the General Secretary. Not only did he build the cadre, but also streamlined the Party as a political force from a loose outfit.
In the dramatic developments during 1994-96, which saw the return of NTR and his controversial relationship with Lakshmi Parvathi, Naidu sensed an opportunity to take control of the party. He rallied the MLAs and dethroned NTR in 1995. A crestfallen NTR passed away in 1996. Thereafter, the undisputed Naidu has steered the TDP through alliances of political advantage.
On the national stage, he manoeuvred well to prop up different leaders like Deve Gowda, IK Gujral under the United Front during 1995-98. Later, he influenced the charismatic Atal Bihari Vajpayee and NDA Alliance. The defeat in 2004 at the hands of YS Rajasekhara Reddy pushed him into political oblivion for sometime.
Naidu resurrected himself in 2014, after the traumatic events leading to the bifurcation of AP. This time he stitched a last minute, winning alliance with the BJP under Narendra Modi. But after four years, the tenuous partnership fell through and he parted ways with the NDA.
Plans are to cement a grand alliance of all the parties opposing BJP. in this direction Naidu sees a big role for himelf. His meetings with Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and final bonhomie with Rahul Gandhi gives a taste of the political drama to unfold with general elections in proximity.
It is “an opportunistic, political compulsion”, rebut the BJP leaders, adding that NTR and the TDP had always opposed the Congress. It would also be self-defeating. “It is strange that Naidu has chosen to join a losers’ club,” remarked GVL Narasimha Rao, the BJP leader and a member of the Rajya Sabha from AP.
Even some neutral political observers point out that the alliance with the Congress may prove costly to the TDP. It is not going to be easy for the TDP and Congress cadres and leaders to work together, after years of political animosity.
In Telangana, The TDP and Congress have already joined hands as the stakes for the the former are not very high. But in AP it will be a very tricky challenge indeed.