Ironic it may sound but the party known for its anti-telangana stance – TDP seems to be supplying ammunition to Telangana movement at regular intervals.
First it was Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao in 2001, then it was Devender Goud in 2009 and now the latest leader to raise a Telangana revolt against the party is Nagam Janardhan Reddy
Nagam is a medical doctor by profession, and an active participant in the 1969 Telangana agitation. He is one of the founding members of the party and is undoubtedly the number 2 in TDP. After realizing the cruel conspiracy in Naidu’s two eye theory on Telangana, Nagam started taking active role in the ongoing agitation.
His first act of defiance came in March this year, when Nagam showed “Jai Telangana” placards in the state assembly.
Nagam then started attending meetings organized by Telangana organizations. Soon, Hareeshwar Reddy, another TDP MLA from Parigi Consituency joined Nagam Janardhan Reddy.
During the Kadapa Bypolls, Nagam created sensation by stating that Jagan will have more credibility in Telangana than Chandra Babu Naidu.
Nagam then conducted the “Telangana Nagara” meetings in his home constituency Nagar Kurnool and also Parigi. He did not use the TDP party flag in both these meetings.
Chandra Babu Naidu, who is anti-telangana at heart, could not tolerate Nagam taking active role in Telangana agitation. He has been instigating his loyalists like Motkupalli Narasimhulu, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Revanth Reddy to criticize Nagama Janardhan Reddy.
In the last couple of days, things have reached a flash point and Chandra Babu has been preparing ground to suspend Nagam Janardhan Reddy from the party.
Why is TDP leadership so enthusiastic about suspending Nagam Janrdhan Reddy. He is only demanding the TDP leadership to honor the promise it has given to the Telangana people during 2009 elections.
Here is an extract from TDP’s 2009 Election manifesto, that talks about the party’s stand on Telangana:
The people of Telangana have already realized how Naidu has taken a U-Turn on Telangana. After promising to extend full support to Telangana statehood issue in TDP election manifesto, Naidu secretly supported the anti-telangana movement, which started on 10th December 2009.
No doubt TDP had a good cadre base in Telangana region. But that has eroded considerably post Naidu’s U-Turn. Many TDP second rung leaders have deserted the party in the last one year.
If Naidu expels Nagam Janardhan Reddy, then it will definitely be the last nail in TDP’s coffin. Nagam has the support of several Telangana MLAs and leaders like Hareeshwar Reddy, Venugopala Chary, Jogu Ramanna etc.
The chamchas of Naidu, who are demanding Nagam’s expulsion, will certainly lose deposits in the next elections.