Hyderabad: The 63-year-old Nara Chandrababu Naidu is a worried man. The man who ruled undivided Andhra Pradesh for 9 years and wielded enormous clout at the national level is now battling infighting and trying to save his party.
Naidu has been out of power for the past 10 years. He has suffered two successive humiliating defeats in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections during the same period. This is his last chance to stage a comeback. But, it is not going to be an easy job for him.
Andhra Pradesh has now been divided. In Telangana, he is not in the race for power. The actual fight is between the Congress and the TRS. He is fighting for the third spot in an alliance with the BJP. The same TDP-BJP alliance is under severe strain in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu, who joined hands with the BJP 10 years after he walked out of the alliance describing it as the 'greatest blunder of his life', seems to have realised that the alliance is not helping him once again.
Naidu was hoping that the perceived Modi 'wave' in urban areas will help him win more seats. But he has now realised that the BJP's open support for the division of the state and Modi's support for Telangana may go against the alliance across AP.
The BJP has not given him any assurance on whether he will be allowed to share the dias with Narendra Modi during his election rallies. Naidu wants Modi to treat him as his equal.
The BJP, which is contesting in 4 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats and 14 of the 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, does not even have winnable candidates. The local leaders of the TDP are against the alliance and told Naidu that all these seats may easily go to his arch rival YS Jaganmohan Reddy's YSRCP. The BJP has always been a minor player in AP politics with no base. Naidu is also worried about the consolidation of Muslim, Christian and Dalit votes in favour of the YSRCP.
The family feud of the Telugu cinema legend and TDP founder NT Ramarao is also spoiling the alliance. Naidu is angry over the BJP fielding his wife's younger sister D Purandeshwari from the Rajampet Lok Sabha seat. According to top sources in the TDP, the NTR family is upset over Naidu and they are actually trying to reclaim the party. Some political analysts argue that only a member of the NTR family can save the TDP.
Naidu became the chief minister of AP in 1995 after unseating his father in law NT Ramarao. After that he systematically sidelined all the old TDP leaders and filled party posts with his loyalists. These loyalists are also now worried about their future under Naidu. In a desperate attempt to come to power, Naidu has inducted a lot of Congress MLAs, MPs and ministers into the party. These leaders have come to his party with the baggage of anti-incumbency. Their entry has also upset many old TDP workers and leaders who were eyeing party ticket.
Chandrababu Naidu's ambiguous stand on Telangana has also cost him a big chunk of votes in Seemandhra. His 'enemy' number one Jaganmohan Reddy has already fielded his candidates from all 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats.
The TDP and the BJP are still fighting over candidature in 4 Lok Sabha seats and 14 Assembly seats. These seats can change his position both at the state and national level. His cadre is getting restless and time is running out.
Will he be able to come out of the crisis? According to long time AP watchers, it won't be easy for him because the damage has already been done.
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