Rout of BJP, sprout of Congress in Karnataka: servile silence by Andhra’s YSRCP, TDP, JSP

HYDERABAD: Karnataka election results evoked reactions from many. Let’s take the case of Telangana. Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi K T Rama Rao reacted. Telangana unit heads of the Congress and the BJP - Revanth Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar - reacted in whatever way they had to.

But, the only State from where there is a deafening silence from major political parties is Andhra Pradesh.

The rabble rousers, homily-preachers and political chaplains are all silent in AP. They are all in unison acquiescent over the rout of the BJP and sprout of the Congress in Karnataka. The resurgence of the Congress would evoke no reaction as the party itself is almost extinct in AP.

The BJP in AP would have reacted if the party won again. But that’s not the case, thus turning off Somu Veerraju to ‘mute’ mode.

Though the BJP in AP may perceive itself as a political force, that’s all not more than a delusion. For, math and numbers speak the truth more than any hypothesis or interpretation. And, the BJP in Andhra Pradesh which polled much less than the vote share gained by NOTA (none of the above) in the simultaneous general elections to the Lok Sabha and Assembly in 2019 need not expect itself to be a political behemoth.

Take the case of the ruling YSR Congress. It hasn’t uttered a word about the BJP’s crushing defeat and the Congress’s triumph. Justifiably, so. For sure, YS Jagan would not like the victory of the Congress which had humiliated him after his father’s demise and incarcerated him too. Jagan would never excuse the Congress for the rest of his life. Therefore, there is no wonder if he had to swallow grudgingly the win of the Congress more than a BJP loss like a bitter pill. Hence the silence by the YSR Congress. Jagan is covertly indebted to the BJP with which he’s maintaining an all-too-well known secret relationship with the BJP.

He wouldn’t utter a word against the BJP, thanks to the soaking criminal cases against him in his alleged disproportionate assets charges. He badly needs the insulation from the Centre. Also, he needs the constant blessings of the BJP even to run the day-to-day operational issues of administration in Andhra Pradesh.

His servility to the BJP is in fact an open secret but he doesn’t give any political statement either in favour or against the ruling NDA dispensation.

TDP’s inconsistent stands

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which frequently shifts its stand towards the BJP precisely for selfish reasons, too remained mum on Karnataka . The TDP under N Chandrababu Naidu doesn’t have any fixed political stand in the sense that it sails with anybody irrespective of political ideology or frequency. Naidu conveniently pushed under the proverbial carpet its avowed anti-Congress plank under NTR’s leadership to have an extraneous relationship with the Congress with an express purpose of having the United Front Government in Delhi. Naidu had his ministers too in the United Front Government supported by the Congress.

He quickly went adrift to the BJP fold as soon as he smelt the possible success of the saffron party, giving a quiet go-by to the earlier stand.

After a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Congress in 2004, Naidu walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance taking an oath that he would never ever align with the BJP again. But that was not true. He simply turned servile to the BJP in 2014 and began waxing eloquent on Narendra Modi and his leadership. Naidu went to the extent of offering a trunk-sized olive branch to show his “unconditional” love for the BJP as if he fully subscribed to its right wing Hindutva ideology. And, Naidu is the ‘solitary reaper’ in the deal.

After he won the election in the State, he sailed with the NDA in a love-hate relationship blowing hot and blowing cold. For some strange reason, he had believed that the BJP under Modi was on the wane. Naidu, who claims to be a visionary — which his detractors depict as megalomanic – somehow lost foresight and intensely felt that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) under the Congress was resurgent. He lost no time in severing the ties with the BJP and walked out of NDA, spitting fire on Modi.

After being trampled under the feet by KCR in Telangana he walked out of the UPA too. Standing on his own, which never had been his won’t, proved to be impossible for him. The avalanche of votes polled by the YSR Congress under YS Jagan washed away the TDP, leaving it to save itself from drowning with help of a barge pole.

Naidu is now expecting the BJP to repeat the magic in 2024. He is sending feelers and showing the white flag by paying rich - to a large extent, unwarranted and unwanted — encomiums on Modi in a desperate effort to draw his attention. Well, it’s for Modi to condescend to Naidu and not for the latter to lay the trap and wait.

This piquant situation pushed Naidu into silence following Karnataka election results. He is now caught in a quandary. He cannot afford to displease Modi and co. What becomes an interesting question is what beguiling statement he would come up with just in case Modi agrees to shake hands with Naidu.

The TDP’s silent servitude to the BJP could be seen more as a political compulsion rather than an effort to stick to compunction.

Is Janasena in alliance ?

Janasena considers itself as a political party. The anti-Jagan media too amplifies that idea. But in reality, the party hardly has a considerable vote share — not more than six percent. Like his ‘remote controller’, Chandrababu Naidu, Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan too dabbled with all political schools of thought and sailed with all and currently in alliance “officially” with the BJP, but openly in a relationship with the TDP. He has been asserting that he would spare no efforts to ensure that the anti-YSR Congress vote would not split. Hemmed in his own histrionics and theatrics, the movie actor talks about his tacks in a volatile manner. He is a “dynamic” leader in the sense that his party’s stand changes dynamically and so quickly that there is no guarantee that Janasena’s political position could be expected. One thing he has been consistent on is his loyalty to Chandrababu Naidu. He never eschewed that even at the cost of being described as “package star” or “prepaid star”.

Pawan Kalyan wants the BJP to give him a political roadmap. If given, he would share it with the TDP and have it customised. Precisely to avert this, the BJP is dodging and ducking on this.

The actor’s “love” for the TDP obviously silenced him from reacting to the BJP’s defeat. An act of “His Master’s Voice”, eh?

All said and done, all are silent in Andhra Pradesh over the crushing defeat of the party that’s no bigger than NOTA.