TRS, TDP caught in ‘truck’ dilemma

What began as a whisper is gradually evolving into a full-fledged topic of discussion.

This comes close on the heels of the stated wish of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which invariably is giving birth to a near-acceptable notion. So are we heading for simultaneous polls or may be midterm elections in the two Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana State (TS)?

Irrespective of whether Modi has sounded the poll-bugle or not, its echo is resonating in the corridors of power in both Hyderabad and Amravati.

This buzz is gaining credence in political circles of the two neighbouring states, where one can actually feel the undercurrents, if one goes by the changed perceptions of the main contenders and their mindset.

According to leaders from the Telangana unit of TDP, N Chandrababu Naidu has thrown enough hints during recent meetings they had with him about the possibility of Modi going in for early elections.

The general understanding is that should that transpire, AP and TS governments will also sail with Modi and go in for early elections, Naidu reportedly told the party leaders.

Adding credibility is the frenzied ‘racing against time’ haste with which K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is going about with his statewide surveys, including gauzing the popularity of potential party candidates and even ‘outsiders’.

As a matter of preparedness to the eventuality, KCR has smartly created additional districts while his largesse, by way of doles in the form of welfare schemes, has been extended to communities that were otherwise left ignored. The intention is pretty clear-expanding the party base and bolstering the vote-bank arithmetic and winning potentialities.

However, in what has been the biggest indication of his quest to retain power has been the ‘go soft’ stand and fervent bid to woo the turncoats, who deserted the party at varying critical junctures. And guess who has been entrusted the onerous task of accomplishing results against a pre-conceived deadline? Old warhorse and former Congress stalwart from Nizamabad, D Srinivas! He will spearhead ‘Operation Akarsh’ and attempt to woo top leaders from Congress into the TRS fold. Besides this, efforts are underway to tap the second rung leadership of TTDP, particularly from among the disgruntled lot.

Meanwhile, other rumours that are gaining ground include the possibility of the TTDP forging a pre-poll alliance with Congress and Left parties.

However, TTDP working president A Revanth Reddy without being dismissive of the ‘canards’, as such, has his own take on the issue.

‘Congress is not our enemy anymore since, like us, even they are in the opposition. Of course, we were opposed to their anti-people policies when they were in power. Now we need to fight the ruling party and jointly take on the ‘inept’ State Government, particularly with regard to their failure in honouring their grandiose poll promises. A united onslaught will be more forceful and will help in awakening the masses to the ground-realities,’ is the supposed opinion of Reddy.

Indeed, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Even as the TDP-Congress-Left alliance was being speculated, another equation that emerged as a possible alternative was an ‘understanding’ between TRS and TTDP. It was widely believed that the ruling party’s oaky came with a rider-a TTDP minus Revanth Reddy. It seems that after going through the pros and cons of such a ‘friendship’ and the gains thereof, the pink party has put the issue in the backburner implying that it has dropped the rather fastidious idea, for now.

On his Part, L Ramana, TTDP President and others like him aver that some vested interests from other parties were deliberately spreading rumours and maligning the party image. There is no question of any understanding between TTDP and TRS, is the stern message these leaders are sending across.
However, the final call rests with only one man-Chandrababu Naidu, who has just about elevated his son and MLC Lokesh by inducting him in his Council of Ministers.

Of course, there is also this speculation that KCR is keeping the door slightly ajar for any possible eleventh hour tie-up with BJP so that TRS could be drafted into the Union Cabinet in the not distant future. Period!