Confident that the electorate will vote him to power, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu declared on Monday that he was going to be the next chief minister of the state. So confident is Naidu that he made this assertion in the present chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s home district of Kadapa.
The confidence seems to have seeped into the cadres as well. Even as Naidu’s chopper was landing in the government polytechnic college helipad close to the public meeting venue municipal stadium here on Monday, one worker shouted: “Adigo, mana bhavi mukhya mantri vastunnadu. Jejelu kottandi (Our future CM is here, welcome him).”
After blessing a toddler eagerly handed over by a TDP woman activist and cutting a 59-kg to mark his birthday, Naidu thundered: “I am going to be the next CM of the state and you are in safe hands,” much to the delight of the crowds which went into raptures. “No one is going to stop the Mahakutami march, more so the corrupt Congress. Wait for May 16 and your woes will end forever as I am going to come back with a bang,” the TDP supremo declared.
Raising his pitch on seeing the response from the women and youth, Naidu sounded a warning to Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in his Kadapa den by saying, “Our Grand Alliance is going to sweep the polls. We will win not less than 105-120 seats in the first phase and it’s only a matter of time before YSR and his henchmen are ousted from power,” the TDP chief said.
In between, Naidu stuck to his routine free sop spree announcements. As he got down the dais, not before prodding the people to take a vow only to vote for the TDP candidates, Naidu told TOI, “It’s a one-sided election and YSR is heading home.” He said: “The massive response indicates that people see our party’s policies as a silent and universal ratification of my eminence and the rise of TDP. Certainly, we will bag a sizable number of seats even in coastal and Rayalaseema districts.”
Making it clear that he won’t be sparing YSR and his son Jaganmohan Reddy, he said all the corrupt money made by the ministers and YSR and Jagan would be restored to the people since it is “public money.”
But what stood out in the midst of a hot afternoon meeting was his bold assertion of becoming CM even before the second phase polling. The fact that he wants to be seen as a great hope for the people of the state is perhaps a reflection of the voter mood in the state as well, an analyst said.
Asserting that the TDP’s stars are shining, senior leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy said the Congress biting the dust is old news. “How many seats our party is going to win is all what matters now.” Nagam further said: “In fact, our calculations are veering round forming the government on our own.”
Kamalapuram strongman M V Mysoora Reddy however played it safe. “We may win 80-90 seats in Telangana and north coastal Andhra. More than the colour TV and cash transfer schemes, it’s the anti-government vote which is working for us,” he emphasised.
He added that the poor performance and corruption have provided an ideal environment for Naidu to set his best foot forward. “It may be an apocryphal anecdote, but Naidu’s claim has a ring of truth to it,” Venkataswamy, district TDP general secretary chipped in.
It remains to be seen whether the party would be able to reproduce the 1999 magic, as Naidu boasts he will.
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