Political parties' 'Power Play' in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is the most imporatant southern state which will decide which political party or group of coalition parties will come to power at the Centre. This was proven in the last two general elections as Congress led UPA government romped home to power with AP presenting more than 30 MP seats to Sonia Gandhi led Congress party.

Even before that, NTR and Chandra Babu Naidu were pivotal in brining United Front, National Front and NDA to power at the Centre. But for the past four years, the political situation in AP has detoriarated so much that one is not sure which party will emerge winner in the next elections. Political parties started formulating their own strategies in 'Power Play' in Andhra Pradesh.

While Sonia Gandhi decided that only division of Andhra Pradesh will save her party from collateral damage thanks to the people's disenchantment with the performance of its Government both at State and the Centre, her opponents like BJP, TRS, YSRCP and TDP have their own strategies.

Sonia decided to form Telangana so that the move can minimise the party's total wipeout in Andhra Pradesh, by atleast retaining some hold in the Telangana region. She also hopes TRS chief KCR will merge his party with Congress and Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSRCP will have some kind of truck after general elections.

BJP which was under the impression that Congress will not deliver on Telangana, planned to ride on Narendra Modi wave and fulfill Telangana promise. However in changed circumstances, it still hopes to have some kind of understanding with TDP led by Chandra Babu. It is even hoping that CM Kiran will form his own party and can even align with it later. BJP hopes that its clear stance on Telangana right from the beginning will pay rich dividends.

Chandra Babu Naidu who undertook Padayatra is sad that when everything is going according to his plan, Congress played spoilsport with its Telangana declaration. However he hopes he can take control of the situation by aligning with BJP. That was the reason why he for the last three months supported Telangana formation inspite of opposition. Now, he is also claiming that his letter to Centre, enabled Telangana formation.

YSRCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy is keeping everyone guessing. All surveys say he will sweep Seemandhra and he is formulating strategies to show his power in Telangana. Though he went on record that he will support only secular parties, he will do what is beneficial for him.

TRS chief KCR has already stopped his merger plans after surveys predicted rich dividends for his party. He is not keen on aligning with a losing horse like Congress. He wants to win more seats and increase his bargaining power.

The MIM planned to expand its base across the state with Rayala Telangana but with its wish not granted, it will formulate strategies to win more seats. CPI and CPM will also try to align either with TDP or YSRCP.

Let us see who will emerge winners in 'Power Play' for Andhra Pradesh empire consisting of Telangana and Andhra kingdoms.