S Viswanath | The New Indian Express | June 05, 2024
When the TDP suffered a drubbing in the 2019 elections as it won only 23 Assembly seats out of the total 175, and going by the age of party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu it was assumed to be practically impossible to bring back the party on track.
At one point of time, questions were raised on the very existence of the TDP as the party lost a series of elections held for the local bodies in the State. But Naidu, though could not keep his flock together with four of his 23 MLAs supporting the YSRC in the initial days itself, gradually bounced back with the candidates supported by the TDP winning the graduate MLC elections from the three regions of the State.
Later, the TDP also won the MLC seat under MLAs quota with the support of four rebel MLAs from the ruling YSRC. Finally, Naidu, a seasoned politician, has succeeded in bringing the TDP back to power in the 2024 elections, overcoming several odds, including his arrest in the AP State Skill Development Corporation case.
Though an alliance was forged with the BJP and JSP, the TDP has now bagged more seats than the magic figure on its own. Now, not only in the State, Naidu is set to get back his past glory at the Centre as the TDP will be a key player in the BJP-led NDA.
TDP leaders say that Naidu is now set to enter the State Assembly in his capacity as the CM as pledged by him in the past when YSRC leaders humiliated his family members on the floor of the House.
The party rank and file celebrated the TDP landslide victory at the party headquarters, watching the election results live on TV on Tuesday. They recalled that how they were disappointed a lot after the drubbing in 2019, and could not take up the party activities for some years because of Covid-19 and the ‘highhandedness’ of the YSRC government.
“For Naidu, age is only a number as said by him on several occasions. Despite the troubles created by the ruling YSRC, he never gave up the fight and activated the party cadres by organising different programmes for the past three years. Adding to his efforts, the formation of the tripartite alliance has resulted in the NDA’s thumping victory,” said several leaders at the TDP office.
“In fact, the party rank and file went into depression mode after the debacle in the 2019 elections. Later on, from the Mahanadu held at Ongole, we had activated the party programmes. Though several attacks and foisting of false cases against the TDP leaders took place, besides the illegal arrest of Naidu and keeping him in jail for 53 days,
The bounced back. Facing all the odds, Naidu once again kept focus on the party activities after his release from jail, and put all out efforts to ensure that the atrocious YSRC is thrown out of power,” said party senior leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, who won from Sarvepalli.
Stating that the YSRC government also filed 23 cases against TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, 18 cases against himself, Somireddy said likewise cases were booked against thousands of the party activists. But the confidence given by Naidu, the trust instilled in the party leadership, enabled the TDP achieve a landslide victory, he said.
Prior to the announcement of the election schedule, Naidu began a whirlwind visit of all the districts in the name of ‘Praja Galam’ and created a record of sorts by addressing the maximum number of public meetings, and participating in roadshows during the election campaign.
Without giving any break and not taking rest and braving the hot sun, Naidu on an average addressed at least three to four public meetings in various parts of the State.
In the name of Praja Galam alone, he addressed public meetings and organised roadshows in 89 Assembly segments, which he began on March 27. Earlier, in the name of ‘Raa Kadaliraa’, he participated in public meetings in almost all the Lok Sabha constituencies in the State.
Beginning January 5, the TDP supremo has toured 114 Assembly segments either in the name of Raa Kadaliraa or Praja Galam waging an unrelenting fight against the anti-people policies of the YSRC government in the last five months, a TDP leader recalled.
The novel programmes of the TDP highlighting the failures of the YSRC government on various fronts, has enabled the party reach out to the people, leading to its landslide victory in the elections, he added.
