Two-thirds of sitting TDP MPs out of race in Lok Sabha polls; TDP still to figure out how alliances work

AMARAVATHI: Jayadev Galla, industrialist-turned-politician, hung up his boots in politics. He decided to get back to the industry and strengthen his businesses. He bade adieu to the people of Guntur who had elected him twice to the Lok Sabha by convening a luncheon. He proposed a vote of thanks to his electors in the presence of TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh and many party leaders.

With Kesineni Nani resigning from the TDP and joining the YSR Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, the TDP literally suffered a major blow on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

Also Read: TDP MP Galla Jayadev to quit active politics, not to contest in Lok Sabha elections

A niggardly three members of the TDP were elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 elections from Andhra Pradesh as against the massive 22 of the YSR Congress.

While Jagan is dumping several candidates and interchanging nominees between Assembly and Lok Sabha seats, the TDP was reduced to a third of its strength in the Lok Sabha as of now. Of course Kurnool MP Sanjeev Rao, Bandar MP Vallabhaneni Balashowry and a few others too bade adieu to the party, the reason for Jagan’s decision to smoke them out of the party was certainly to ensure an operation clean-up, while that is not the case with the TDP.

Balashowry had already joined the Jana Sena. The YSR Congress named Satyavedu MLA Adimulam as party’s incharge for Tirupati. However, he indicated that he would quit the party and join the TDP. The bargain could be that he would contest from Satyavedu Assembly seat which he has been representing in the last five years.

In fact, the TDP has to leave certain seats to its political ally Jana Sena in the Lok Sabha. If at all the BJP top evinces interest in joining the group, then it will surely demand a bigger pound of flesh in the Lok Sabha seats.

Also Read: TDP postures as being on rise in word-of-mouth publicity in social media, upping ante against Jagan

Prominent Kapu leader and Jana Sena leader Chegondi Harirama Jogaiah has demanded that the party be given six Lok Sabha seats and 50 Assembly seats. Anything less than that — especially three Lok Sabha seats and 30 Assembly seats — to Janata Sena would prove to be suicidal for the fledgling party floated more than a decade ago by movie actor Pawan Kalyan.

Jogaiah asserted that the Kapu community would not rally behind Pawan Kalyan if he settled for a lesser bargain with the TDP. This would naturally rub the TDP aspirant who has been nursing the constituency so far.

There is no dearth of contestants for the TDP as it’s a party that has been in active politics for over four decades now. The party has many aspirants vying with one another to contest.

If the BJP doesn’t join the TDP-led front, the Communists who have been kowtowing to the TDP will join the group and ask for their cut in the Assembly seats and Lok Sabha seats.

In such case, the TDP would come under pressure to yield ground and allot at least one Lok Sabha seat each to the CPI and the CPI-M and a few Assembly seats too.

If the TDP joins hands with the BJP, the Communists have an obvious choice of Y S Sharmila-led Congress party to align with and contest the polls. With the Congress, they will have a better bargaining power to contest more seats.

YSR Congress made it clear that it would go it alone to the polls and also there is no political party that is coming forth to join hands with the ruling party to enter into a poll pact.

By nominating incharges to different constituencies, YS Jagan has already prepared the ground for the battle royale.

Also Read: Felt insulted by Chandrababu, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani to quit TDP, his MP post

The TDP’s seat sharing arrangement would surely cause a heartburn to some of the aspirants within. If the BJP tells Pawan Kalyan not to go with the TDP and the NDA partners (BJP and Jana Sena) would fight the elections together would change the equations again.

In such an event, the Communists would have the TDP as their immediate choice to join hands obviating the necessity to join hands with the Congress.

Against this prevalent dicey political conundrum, the TDP is unable to clarify its position on who all would be its allies in the upcoming elections. Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan have been indeed asserting that their two parties would contest together.

But the announcement of tickets for two Assembly seats, including Mandapeta, has ruffled the feathers of Pawan Kalyan, who gave a jolt to the purported senior partner in the alliance by announcing candidates for Rajanagaram and Razole Assembly constituencies on behalf of the Jana Sena.

Trying to put up a brave face, the TDP leaders hurriedly signalled their approval for the announcement by Pawan Kalyan stating that he had nominated candidates for the seats allotted to his party.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyan’s brother and Jana Sena leader Naga Babu asserted that “to every action, there would be an equal and opposite reaction.” The TDP social media warriors had trolled him for his observations those actually went against the “gentleman arrangement” between the two parties.

With just Kinjarapu Ramamohan Naidu remaining with it among the three MPs, the TDP is now perplexed over how things would take shape in the upcoming elections.

The worst part is that the two MPs who had opted out of race on behalf of the party belong to the dominant Kamma caste and the two constituencies they have been representing have traditionally chosen Kammas.

Rubbing proverbial salt to the wound is the challenge thrown by Kesineni Nani that he could defeat even Chandrababu Naidu with a three lakh vote difference in Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat if the TDP supremo n chose to contest from the seat.