By Oracle
Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s latest slogan of “democratic compulsion”, in his bid to cover-up his Telugu Desam Party’s alliance with the Congress, seems more of a political expediency or struggle for existence rather than how he sought to portray it.
Chandrababu Naidu has a lot of media houses that willingly blow his trumpet. While “agenda setting” is a media function, it has conveniently been buried under political favours and other extraneous considerations under the aegis of Naidu and his crony media houses.
Some of the influential media houses have reversed their role and began being acquiescent to Chandrababu Naidu. If any other political party began to armtwist or enslave a few media houses by offering sops, it’s just nothing but aping Naidu.
While these media houses blow the trumpet of “democratic compulsion”, the slogan seems to be too shallow for anyone to believe.
The TDP is almost extinct in Telangana. The Situation of the party in Andhra Pradesh, where it is enjoying power, seems to be on a sticky wicket. It is an emergency need for Naidu to infuse new lease of life into his party either by hook or by crook. The advanced polls in Telangana came in handy for him to work on his plan to shake hands with the unthinkable-the Congress.
Naidu lost no time in working backwards to cement a deal between the TDP and the Congress. He convinced the remainder of TDP leaders and cadre in Telangana that they would either have to play second fiddle to the Congress or lose their identity.
As a first step to smoothen the abraded relationship between the TDP and the Congress, Naidu had demonstrated unbridled camaraderie with Congress president Rahul Gandhi at Bengaluru at the swearing in ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy.
The Congress, which is the main opposition in Telangana and non-existent in Andhra Pradesh, too found it politically convenient to let Naidu be the “father figure” of the party, albeit surreptitiously, In the two States.
That whether Naidu will let the Congress be his partner in Andhra Pradesh is technically not a matter of urgent importance. For now, it’s the question of existence for the TDP and a political opportunity for the Congress in Telangana.
The Naidu-mark bragging of “I developed Hyderabad” has never cut much ice with people in the city politically. Most of those who praise Naidu as an “administrator” in internal debates neither have an idea as to what administration is all about nor are they socially and politically aware.
The Congress, by kicking out YS Jaganmohan Reddy, lost its rights on whatever little was done in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime. They are unable to counter the criticism of YSR by Telangana Chief Minister KCR and others.
Since it’s unable to embrace YSR as its leader, the party has buried its political chagrin and espoused Chandrababu Naidu as its “undeclared” leader. Naidu has inadvertently been re-enacting the role of his past avatar in the TDP – extra-constitutional authority, intriguingly in a diametrically opposite party. This unholy nexus is being successfully highlighted by the TRS.
Thus, the Congress and the TDP mutually pledged their self-esteem at the feet of each other and began practising illicit political partnership.