Will Kuppam debacle demoralise morale of TD cadre?

VIJAYAWADA: The debacle of the Opposition TDP in the ongoing panchayat elections in the State, more particularly in Kuppam Assembly constituency represented by the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, is likely to demoralise the morale of party cadre ahead of the urban local body elections.

TDP leaders, who are not ready to comment publicly on the election results, maintained that it is natural for the ruling party to have an advantage in the local body elections. However, they admit that the party debacle in the Kuppam Assembly segment will definitely demoralise the morale of its cadre. A section of leaders felt that Naidu should have focused more on consolidating the party base in his constituency after considerable drop in his majority in the 2019 elections. Naidu’s winning margin reduced by 16,000 in the 2019 Assembly elections when compared to 2014 elections. 

“Despite indications of losing the party base, no concrete steps have been taken to stop the surge of the YSRC in his constituency and the same now resulted in the poor performance of the candidates supported by the TDP in the panchayat elections,’’ a senior TDP leader said. He observed that there is no wonder if Naidu opts to contest from another Assembly segment along with Kuppam in the next elections going by the indications of the party downfall in Kuppam.

“Of course, it is natural for the ruling party to use all its resources and misuse the official machinery to show its strength and it is also an established fact that the ruling party will have advantage in the local body  polls. But in the case of the Kuppam constituency, we cannot attribute the defeat to the same logic as it is represented by the party supremo. Though Naidu argued that it was a defeat of democracy in Kuppam, the fact remains that the TDP is gradually losing its strong base in the constituency,’’ he observed. 

Stating that Naidu had directed them to take the panchayat elections seriously and even warned of taking action against constituencies in-charges if they fail to achieve better results, another leader told TNIE that after losing majority of the panchayats in Kuppam constituency, Naidu is not in a position to dictate terms to the leaders in the constituencies where the fourth phase of panchayat elections are scheduled on Sunday.
Stating that the party performed better in several Assembly segments than the Kuppam constituency, the leader pointed out that there were instances of the ruling party showing its high-handedness in those constituencies also.

However, another senior leader said that compared to other constituencies, the ruling YSRC used all its money and muscle power in Kuppam to bag more panchayats to send a message that Naidu cannot save the yellow party even in his own constituency.