Chandrababu Hits Nadir Of His Political Career

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

"Our alliance with the Congress is a political compulsion," Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu said.

"The Congress will continue working with the TDP in future," senior Congress leader Veerappa Moilly said, inviting the Congress-TDP partnership.

One would be surprised to recall, in the present circumstances, Chandrababu's blatant criticism of the Congress exactly four years ago and thereafter. "The Congress party ignored the interests of Andhra Pradesh before deciding to bifurcate the State. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is part of the Italian mafia. On the day of inception of Italy, Sonia Gandhi did injustice to the State with the bifurcation. Does Rahul Gandhi have the face to tour Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation? The people of AP should reject the Congress," these were the words of Chandrababu on the occasion of Rahul Gandhi's recent visit t AP on the issue of the Special Category Status (SCS) to the State.

In a drastic transformation in Chandrababu's narrative on the SCS, he took a sharp U-turn in his demand after saying that the SCS was irrelevant and no other State government received more funds than AP from the Centre to blaming it on the BJP for not granting the SCS. In an effort to sneak into Opposition's demand for the SCS, Chandrababu is wasting public money in the name of his meetings.

On the other side, Chandrababu discussed seat-sharing with Telangana Congress Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy as part of the TDP-Congress alliance. The TDP during the 2014 polls alleged that the Congress bifurcated the State to benefit the TRS in Telangana and the YSRCP in AP. And the TDP went on to say that the Congress and the YSRCP were sharing a father-son relationship. Chandrababu kept harping on one thing--the YSRCP was acting in a manner in which the party's relations with the TRS were hampering the interests of Andhra Pradesh.

In reality, the YSRCP did not ally with either the BJP or the Congress. In both the States, the party contested in the elections independently. In contradiction to his own criticism, Chandrababu is making moves in the direction of forging an alliance with the Congress. Although Chandrababu did not have an explanation to his terming of the alliance as a political compulsion, it might be seen as a safe haven to fall back at in case of difficulties.

Chandrababu blamed the TRS saying the party did not come forward to accept his invitation for a TDP-TRS alliance. "With this, I was compelled to join hands with the Congress", Chandrababu said.

Does Chandrababu imply he was forced to befriend the Congress party even though he was not interested to do so? Irrespective of the Telangana election results, it could be concluded that the TDP does not go by its word and that it has nothing to do with political ideologies.

The TDP Chief had always had a reasoning for his choice of making an alliance with any party. Alongside making his point, Chandrababu has a hidden agenda behind the alliance--to save face from the support to the Opposition party. After befriending the BJP for four years, Chandrababu is now accusing his political rivals of striking secret alliance with the BJP.

This should not be seen as a two-faced nature of Chandrababu but as a result of his multi-faceted propaganda. Had the TRS agreed for an alliance with the TDP, Chandrababu would have conveniently taken a different stand on his choice. It should not be forgotten that Chandrababu might change his political stand if the Congress fails to gain power in Telangana.

Else, if the Congress-led alliance goes on to win the Telangana elections, Chandrababu will surely claim credit for the victory and he will try to gain politically in AP from the victory. Nevertheless, the AP CM is proving it right that he is a pioneer in his style of spreading false propaganda. The people of the two Telugu States should decide whether they need this kind of political atmosphere.

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