Vote 2009 - Small parties, big damage

By M H Ahssan

Do you know what IJP, BJRP, BRP, ABJS, ABRRP(P), AJBP, ANC, BCUF, LJNSP, LS, PPOI, MCPI(S), MRS, MUL, NIP, NTRTDP (LP), PP, PRBP, RMEP, RPC(S), RPI(A), SHS RPI (KH) stand for? These ever increasing tribe of unintelligible abbreviations are but registered political parties in Andhra Pradesh. If you have noticed the NTRTDP (LP) among the list, yes it is the one headed by Lakshmi Parvathi, wife of late N T Rama Rao who founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

As one would guess, all of them drew a blank in the 2004 elections in the state. But these ‘once-bitten, never-shy’ parties are gearing up once again for the polls in a never say die spirit. For starters, a party called the Pyramid Party of India (PPOI) has already filed nominations from various constituencies, including the Qutbullapur assembly and Secunderabad Lok Sabha seats.

According to the party’s general secretary Mega Murali, the party will contest 200 assembly and 40 Lok Sabha seats this time around compared to 90 assembly seats last time. But to get a PPOI ticket, the aspirants need to have a basic qualification: Be a strict vegetarian. “A non-vegetarian has the characteristics of a tiger or a lion, being violent and attacking others,” Murali said.

Interestingly, Murali’s wife Anuradha contested the Medchal assembly seat last time and got as many as 7,113 votes against T Devender Goud who was the TDP candidate. It is another matter that the PPOI’s candidate Ch Padmaja in the Khairatabad constituency did not get a single vote.

Interestingly, this time there are more parties in the electoral arena vying for space. A new party called the Trilinga Praja Pragati Party (TPPP) is planning to contest at least 15 seats, according to its leader Maharadhi. “The underprivileged should get the power to rule,” he quipped.

Another party called ‘Indira Rajiv Congress (Sacrifice for the nation) has been registered only at the state level so its leader Emangari Anjilayya is scouting for ‘alliances’. “I am already in talks with a party and if I am given a ticket, will contest under that party’s banner,” he said.

‘Alliances’ seems to be the success mantra for the small parties. For instance, the Samaikhya Andhra Samithi Party, the Shanti Bharat National Party have joined hands with the Samajwadi Party and the Great India Party to form what they are calling the ‘Samaikhya Andhra Kootami’. “We are expecting some more parties to join our Kutami,” said C D Subba Reddy, president, Shanti Bharat National Party, who contested on a Praja Party ticket from Markapuram constituency in Prakasam district.

One is naturally tempted to dismiss the small political parties as being too insignificant to make any difference during the elections. But here is one example that proves otherwise.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with its strength in the Telangana region hardly has any presence outside the region. But it did something strange in the last elections. It contested all the Lok Sabha seats in the state and damaged the fortunes of at least one TDP candidate.

Here’s the victim. The TDP candidate from Hindupur constituency B K Parthasarathi polled 4,17,904 votes while the Congress candidate who emerged winner got 4,19,744 votes. The margin was only 1,840 votes. And who played spoilsport for TDP? The TRS candidate B Surender Kumar who polled 16,907 votes. Moral of the story: Small parties can cause big damage. Is Mayawati trying to do that by fielding BSP candidates from each seat in AP?