By M H Ahssan
Fifty six-year-old T Devender Goud, the Telangana face of the Prajyarajyam Party (PRP) has a task on hand. He must win from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency and the Ibrahimpatnam assembly constituency. More importantlym, he must save his face.
Ten days to go for the polls and Devender Goud is nervous. Why would someone who won three consecutive times from the Medchal assembly constituency with a convincing margin have to worry? The cause of concern this time is the new symbol on which he is fighting the polls.
Everywhere that the former TDP minister Devender Goud goes for his campaigning, the one thing that he is driving into the minds of the voters is that they have to vote for the rail engine symbol - the symbol of PRP.
The former no. 2 of the Telugu Desam Party had quit N Chandrababu Naidu’s company to form his own Nava Telangana Party (NTP) which he subsequently merged with filmstar Chiranjeevi’s PRP.
Did he not actually thrust himself on the PRP? Did he not send his partymen to cheer Chiranjeevi at his road shows even before his party had anything to do with the PRP?
“By that time the PRP had made its stance on Telangana. So we decided to sail with it. But no, I did not force myself on the party,” Devender Goud told HNN.
Devender Goud was considered no. 2 in the TDP and then no. 1 in his own NTP. However, after his party’s merger with the PRP, one does not know where he stands. In so far as his role as vice-president in the party, Devender Goud can hardly explain that.
“Firstly, I do not believe in the numbers game. My role in the party would be to conduct myself as the situation demands. Through discussions, I could help formulate a clear stance on the Telangana issue,” Devender Goud said.
The stance could be clear now but there is one more thing staring glaringly at the PRP. There seem to be crowds for Chiranjeevi’s public meetings and road shows but some surveys have indicated that the PRP may not sweep the polls, leave alone getting a considerable number of seats.
From his reading of the situation, the experienced politician that he is, Devender Goud is cautious in his prediction of the outcome. “Let us wait and see. Morever, the surveys are not taking into consideration the silent revolution that is taking place for change. We should reach the magic figure,” he said.
Devender Goud also remains unperturbed by either the exodus from PRP, allegations that the PRP is a ‘family party’ and that tickets have been sold. “Which party is not a family party?” he countered. He also prefers to downplay the desertion by some PRP leaders as mere hiccups in a new party.
“It is in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) that tickets are sold. So long as the TRS is there, a separate Telangana state cannot be achieved, because it does not want it. Its leaders simply want the issue to be kept alive so that they can benefit from it,” Devender Goud charged.
Is it the uncertainty about victory that makes him contest from two seats - one for the Lok Sabha and one for the Assembly? “It is part of a strategy. I will retain whichever seat my party wants me to,” he said.
Devender Goud is pitted against the Sarve Satyanarayana of the Congress, Bhim Sen of the Mahakutami (TDP) and N Indrasena Reddy of the BJP. In Ibrahimpatnam, he is fighting Malreddy Ranga Reddy of the Congress and Manchireddy Kishan Reddy of TDP.
The PRP slogan of ‘change’ is what Devender Goud is heavily banking on to fetch him victory in the elections. But what is the change that is being dished out to the people when it is people like the same old Devender Goud in the new party? Goud is not annoyed at the question. “The policies are new,” he clarified.
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