Analysis: Can Andhra Pradesh CM 'Chandrababu Naidu' Restore His 'Mr.Clean' Image On Cash-For-Vote Scam?

Just hours before grand celebrations to mark his first anniversary in office, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu finds himself in a political quagmire after the emergence of recordings that embroil the Telugu Desam Party in a cash-for-vote case in which saw a TDP legislator being arrested, recently.

The leakage of audio tapes consisting of a purported conversation between Naidu and nominated Anglo-Indian MLA in Telangana Assembly Elvis Stephenson came as a bombshell to the TDP and added a new twist to the cash-for-vote controversy in which a TDP MLA in Telangana A Revanth Reddy was arrested and is being questioned by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Seriously, Chandrababu Naidu Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai?

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE

Chandrababu Naidu has been maha miffed with the BJP from the day that the saffron party admitted his sister–in–law Purandeswari into their fold. A union minister and MP from Visakhapatnam Purandeswari found her political career at grave risk after her government granted Telangana. Worried she ran to her brother Balakrishna to convince Naidu to allow her in the TDP. 

After all, the party was founded by her father! But Naidu with equal antipathy for her husband and she was unwilling to relent. Probably he would have if she had persisted but in the meanwhile BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu jumped into the scene. “Join us,” he sent news to the minister, “We will give you the Visakhapatnam or Vijayawada seat, which ever you want.” Purandeswari was ready. 

AMIDST BRICKBATS, BOUQUETS, 'NAIDU YATRA' ENDS

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

A long journey of 2817 km in 208 days around 16 districts, 86 Assembly constituencies, 702 public meeting and thousands of people is the mark of record in Teleugu Desam Party supremo Nara Chandra Babu Naidu political career. 

This in a nutshell describes the historic 'Vathunna Meekosam padayatra' of Chandrababu Naidu. He earned the distinction of the longest-serving Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition and the longest-walking president of any political party in the State.

Iron will, steel resolve and unwavering determination defines Naidu. He was at the coalface to draw up a plan and a way forward for the party.

Spotlight: Cash For Vote: Will Leaked Tapes Prove To Be Tipping Point For AP CM Chandrababu Naidu?

The Andhra CM's claims of a clean image are in tatters, his promise of being pro-farmer has been proven to be a lie and his stock is falling in Telangana and at the centre as well.

It should have been a good year for Chandrababu Naidu. Having won the 2014 state elections in the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh, he was back in power after a decade in opposition.

Can The 'Great Leaders' Photos Fetch the Votes?

Can the photograph of a late leader fetch votes for a political party in any election? Those who claim so must be living in some other world without any relation to the present day developments.

Telugu Desam leader and film star Nandamuri Balakrishna rebuked the YSR Congress leaders for using the photograph of their party founder the late N T Rama Rao and charged them with doing so to garner votes during elections.

If what he said was true, his party should have won the elections hands down in 2004 and 2009 as Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu went around the state garlanding the busts of the late leader at every meeting. Despite this, the party could not even touch the three-digit mark in the Assembly.

People will take several aspects into consideration including the credibility of the leadership of a party, its policies and programmes and also its leaders’ past record in running the state into consideration before taking a decision on whom to support in an election.

Gone are the days when people go by photographs and portraits of leaders.

Let us recall history a little. In fact, more than 150 MLAs owing allegiance to Chandrababu Naidu, submitted a representation to the then Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan stating that they had removed NTR as the party president and they should be allotted the party’s symbol ‘bicycle,’ the poor man’s transportation.

Chandrababu Naidu through a meticulous and deep rooted planning organised the infamous palace coup and threw out NTR not only from the Chief Ministership, but the party presidency as well. The party general body elected Naidu as its president at a meeting organised at Basant Talkies in Kacheguda.

NTR was all set to launch yet another political party with lion as election symbol. The poor legend who won the popular mandate for the TDP was ill treated by those siding with Naidu. And the original owner of the party was evicted from the doghouse. NTR poured scorn on Chandrababu Naidu through a cassette he released impaling the foibles of Naidu. He christened the cassette as Jamatha Dasamagraham.

Thanks to the loop wholes in the constitution, the legendary founder of the TDP suddenly and shockingly found himself out of an institution he conceived, tended, reared and fortified. He lost court cases on the ownership of the party, the symbol and the lost straw on the camel’s back was the loss of battle over the party fund. The verdict came on January 17, 1996 and the legend left the material world the next day.

For the record and to remained the TDP leaders and their cronies the matter of fact is essentially that NTR never endorsed Naidu’s actions nor did he excuse his younger son-in-law and his band wagon of people during his life time.

As most TDP leaders and cadre want to change the popular perception, they would have re-written the history in one of the two ways: a) that Naidu defeated NTR in polls and was democratically right (TDP MLA Payyavula Keshav tried to put up this argument to legitimise the backstabbing in one of the TV talk shows.) : and  b) that NTR had on his own volition let Nadiu take over the reins of the party to ‘save it’ from Lakshmi Parvati.

The fool hardy attempt of the TDP to alter the history doesn’t really augur well for the party itself.

If at all NTR-TDP founding president and the late leader’s wife Nandamuri Lakshmi Parvathi was allotted the bicycle symbol, the group led by Chandrababu Naidu would have become part of the history then itself. Without the symbol, NTR-TDP was instrumental in deciding the fate of Telugu Desam in as many as 16 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 1996 elections.

When people rejected Telugu Desam again in the Lok Sabha elections in 1998, NTR’s elder son Nandamuri Harikrishna along with his brother-in-law and former minister Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao launched Anna TDP expecting that his late father’s portrait would get votes but it did not happen. Even the TDP had to bite the dust in those elections.

The party was subsequently merged with Telugu Desam and Harikrishna was made Rajya Sabha member while Venkateshwara Rao joined the Congress along with his wife Purandeshwari.

When YSR Congress leaders contested the by-elections held for Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly segment in 2011 claiming to be the true inheritors of the legacy of late chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the voters believed in them. Even in the last year’s by-elections also, the YSRC won all but 3 of the 19 Assembly and the lone Lok Sabha seat.

Now the talk that is doing rounds in the political circles is that Junior NTR did not even care to respond to the warning issued by Balakrishna leading to the latter’s loss of face in the party. Instead of going public, Balakrishna could have spoken to him in person and got the matter resolved and now the issue has gone beyond control.

After all, Junior NTR has sizeable number of followers, which is the main reason for the party hesitating to take action against him.

Junior NTR had infact clarified umpteen times that he would serve the TDP life long. And there is no wonder if he comes in front of the media and chants the rhetorical mantra of maamiyya, baabaayee and thaathiyya in his usual style of protruding the tongue to wet his lips frequently.

NTR’s daughter and union minister Purandeshwari asserted that NTR was a national leader and liked by all and anybody could use his portrait. And that the use of NTR’s photograph was not the patent of the TDP alone.

When Balakrishna said that he would take legal action against those not belonging to the TDP  for using NTR’s photo, the legally wedded wife of the late leader came up with a perfect repartee saying that she would also take to legal recourse seeking to prevent the TDP from using the photographs of NTR. This obviously caught the TDP on the wrong foot. YSRC leader Konatala Ramakrishna, while clarifying that his party had nothing to do with NTR’s photographs also reasoned the same way as Purandeshwari did.

Breaking his silence Harikrishna found fault with those raising pointers at his son Jr NTR. While giving tongue in cheek replies he said anybody could use the photograph of late NTR who was a ‘poor man’s god’. He suddenly said he had a lot to share and would do so at an appropriate time. He sought to know how could Jr NTR beheld responsible for the act of some one who was a fan.”How can anybody call using the pictures of NTR as political prostitution? Why should my family become the target of all for some one else’s folly? They should try to strengthen the party instead of depicting the act as prostitution.” He also said that Jr NTR should no longer be treated as a kid. This is being seen as counter attack on Balakrishna.

It is eighteen years since the late leader passed away but he is still making news. One thing the TDP should clearly understand is that the YSRC did not require the portraits of NTR or the Junior. Flaunting the two NTRs, the TDP lost two successive general election, while the YSRC trounced its opponents without the pictures of NTR.

Does Bhuvaneshwari Want 'Signature Stamp' On TDP?

In Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari appears to be evincing  interest in playing an active role in the day-to-day affairs of the party.

This is in complete departure of the once-trumpeted stand of Chandrababu Naidu that his family members did not interfere with the party, politics and governance (when the party was in power).

He was true ten years ago. Certainly Bhuvaneshwari played an exemplary role as the wife of Naidu staying miles away from politics as well as government. Their son Lokesh just then crossed the threshold of adolescence by the time Naidu lost power.

But now the father, the mother, the son and the daughter-in-law are all participating in the party activities. When Naidu undertook a hunger strike, all the four showed up on the same dais. Ever since Naidu embarked on the Vastunna Mee Kosam padayatra, Lokesh began to shoulder the responsibility at the apex level. Surely, the political toddler is now clearly the Trainee President of the TDP.

Dawning the role of the queen is Bhuvaneshwari who is now overseeing the party matters with the remote guidance of her dexterous husband.

Bhavaneshwari, who called on the fasting party legislators at the hospital and offered them lime juice to end their fast last week, visited NTR Trust Bhavan to append her signature on the Telugu Desam’s signature campaign against the state government’s decision to hike power tariff on Saturday.

With this, another daughter of late N T Rama Rao is slowly getting into politics. Her elder sister Daggubati Purandeshwari has been a two time MP from Congress and is a Union Minister at present.

While Y S Rajasekhar Reddy family members are waging a battle against the Congress only after the arrest of the party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy more than 10 months ago, Chandrababu Naidu has decided to involve his wife, son Lokesh and brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna in the party matters while taking every care so as to keep the other family members of Telugu Desam founder late N T Rama Rao under check.

Plans are also underway by Chandrababu Naidu to anoint Lokesh as Telugu Yuvatha president after his padayatra which will conclude on April 27. The decision is most likely to be announced during party’s Mahanadu celebrations at the end of May to enable him to tour  across the length and breadth of the state in June.

Lokesh has already started eliciting information from various sources including his journalist friends about the party’s condition.

On the other hand, the family members of late NTR have been maintaining a strategic silence and giving a long rope to Chandrababu Naidu to lead the party in the next elections. If the party fails to regain power, that will spell trouble and may be end of the road for Naidu.

Hyderabad campaigns add a dash of humour

By M H Ahssan

Political parties in election mode in the the state and desperate to grab power are displaying a great sense of humour to show their rivals in bad light albeit hitting them below the belt. The fight is in full public display on the various Telugu channels.

Here are some samples: In a poll campaign advertisement titled “Satya Peetam”, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (shown only as a dark shadowy image to indicate that it’s him) is being subjected to a lie detector test. In the ad, he admits that his arch rival chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has achieved what he never could and that Reddy is sure to win the polls again.

The TDP think tank swung into action to counter this hugely popular and comic advertisement. In the TDP ad, a similar shadowy figure appears declaring himself to be Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s ‘aatma’. This counter-attack from the TDP is more gripping because Reddy sings a Telugu rap song with his characteristic mannerisms and admits to his sin: wholesale corruption. He also declares that if the ‘aatma’ could vote, he would certainly vote only for Chandrababu Naidu. In the end, he says: ‘Amma, Ayya, Babu Zindabad’.

In both the Congress and the TDP ads, the voices of Reddy and Naidu have been perfectly imitated, what with hordes of artistes available these days who have perfected the art.

The poll campaign has got interesting because of the other advertisements too. On the lines of the once hugely popular KBC, the Congress has come out with an ad titled ‘ R a n d i Gyanam Pondandi’ that depicts Chand r ab abu Naidu as a backstabber. The person posed a question asking him to select a backstabber from four choices zeroes on Chandrababu Naidu. Other choices includes names like Brutus and Aurangzeb.

In yet another Congress ad, titled ‘NTR Aatma Garjana’, a clipping of N T Rama Rao is shown heaping abuses on Chandrababu Naidu.

When the TDP came out with an ad titled ‘Lokam Kodai Koosthundhi’ showing a two chicks discussing how to attack the Congress, the Congress lost no time in coming up with a counter. In the Congress ad, a rishi who finds the two chicks sprinkles water on them to reveal their true identity - they turn into two foxes and the face of one of them resembles Chandrababu Naidu’s.

While humour appears to be the forte of the Congress, the TDP made use of the visuals of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, finance minister K Rosaiah and Mahila Congress chief Ganga Bhavani, and minister J C Diwakar Reddy’s brother J C Prabhakar Reddy using abusive language. And in sharp contrast, Chandrababu Naidu is shown as someone with a heart of love showering affection on people.

While the TDP and the Congress are trying to outwit each other, the Prajarajyam Party (PRP) too has now joined the fray. But devoid of any theatrics, filmstar Chiranjeevi’s party is straight harping on ‘change’.

DIGNIFIED CHANDRABABU NAIDU FALLS WITH 'LOOSE TALKS'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Telugu Desam Supremo Chandrababu Naidu’s asides replete with allegations of watching x-rated pornographic movies by inmates in prisons, especially in Chanchalguda central prison, need not be covered-up as a general observation. It doesn’t pass muster that way. The remarks of Naidu are absurd and don’t augur well for his tall stature.

THE 'KING MAKER' OR 'STAR MAKER'

By M H Ahssan

Chandrababu Naidu looks like the man who will be sought after, once election results are out. He will be a kingmaker if he gets anything over 20 Lok Sabha seats.

Chandrababu Naidu, a posterboy of India’s economic reforms in the mid-1990s, is a chastened man today. He has reinvented himself politically and says he had made a mistake in the past by remaining too focused on economic reforms while not looking after the immediate needs of the poor. Redistributive justice cannot wait till reforms produce results and major intervention is required in the short run. Naidu has internalised this as he leads the opposition charge in the most critical state of Andhra Pradesh which returns 42 members to the Lok Sabha, the third largest after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

No wonder Andhra Pradesh is being described as a swing state, which will decide the fate of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre. Chandrababu Naidu is fully aware of the possible role he might play at the Centre after the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state. “Everyone knows I played a critical role in the formation of the United Front government. I am sure I will play a role this time too if the need arises”, he says confidently.

His body language would suggest he is already sensing power. “Many internal exit poll surveys suggest we are well ahead of the Congress after the first phase of polling. Even the state intelligence bureau has indicated that,” he says. “Another sign is the Congress leader Y S R Reddy’s desperation in raising the bogey, in the second phase campaign, that the people of Andhra might lose Hyderabad to a newly created state of Telengana. How is the Congress High Command endorsing such duplicity,” Naidu asks.

Naidu raises all these and many other issues in a fiery public speech in the heart of Nellore town, and the crowds lap up every bit of his rhetorical posers. If the Nellore public meeting is anything to go by, Naidu appears to be on a roll. One has not seen such a spontaneous response from the crowds in recent times. Going by local media reports he has been getting such crowd response in most of his public meetings and has gathered political momentum lately. The sense one gets after talking to people is they want to give Naidu a chance. Clearly, Naidu looks like the man who will be sought after, post-May 16. He will be a kingmaker if he gets anything over 20 Lok Sabha seats.

A conversation with Naidu revealed an interesting political facet of the man. He has clearly learnt from past mistakes. “I ruled for nine years in Andhra and was regarded as a pioneer of economic reforms. But I made one big mistake. I got carried away by praise from economists and academics and lost touch with the common man. I have, therefore, learnt a lesson and reinvented myself,” he says. He still believes in reforms but equally on substantive “intervention as the poor cannot wait for succour”.

Going by Naidu, the new lesson for every politician seems to be to do exactly the opposite of what ivory tower economists suggest! For instance, economists always pooh-poohed the idea of giving rice at Rs 2 a kg which was put forth by N T Rama Rao and later replicated by DMK of Tamil Nadu. But this has now become par for the course as national parties have also followed suit.

This election, Naidu seems to have caught the imagination of Andhra people with his unique cash transfer scheme which he explains in all his public meetings. The scheme is about a direct transfer of cash to those below poverty line and the not so poor in a graded manner. Being adept at the use of technology Naidu emphasises in all his meetings that this cash transfer will be made directly through an ATM card and will be handed to the woman of the poor household.

The emphasis on direct transfer without intermediaries is not without reason. The Congress in Andhra too has implemented many social sector schemes but corruption has eaten into a good 50% of such funds, says Naidu. The Telugu Desam leader alleges that corruption and criminality have created an anti-incumbency sentiment in the state.

But has he done the math for transferring such a big sum every month to the poor? The below poverty line poor household will get Rs 2,000 a month, the above poverty line poor will get Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 in a graded manner. The total expenditure on this could be Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 crore. Asked how he will raise such a big sum, Naidu says the money will have to come from the growing economy. He alludes to user charges from telecom, roads and so on which are still booming.

Sharp politician that he is, Naidu eschews going into further details. But he surely has caught the imagination of the people with some of his schemes. One also saw Naidu attracting a lot of the young voters in his meetings. He cleverly uses technology to appear more modern than his rivals. For instance, he has set up a call centre in each of his 294 assembly constituencies to get daily feedback. He has a thousand dedicated phone lines free to communicate.

Naidu said his other big mistake was he did not immediately withdraw support to the NDA government when the Gujarat riots happened. It cost him dearly at the elections and the minorities got alienated from the TDP. He now claims to have managed to win back some of the confidence of the Muslims who constitute about 14% of the state voting population.

Naidu also significantly asserted he would play the role of a facilitator if the Third Front got a good tally at the hustings. “I have been working with leaders of the Third Front to create an alternative set of policies,” he said. Naidu also seems serious about working on a common minimum programme of the Third Front, post-elections. He says the common features of all manifestos can be put together after the polls.

He is confident the Third Front can notch up over 150 seats, in which case the Congress would be pressured to support the Front. No doubt, he is a man to watch in the weeks ahead.

Telangana: Will Andhra Split Ring The Death Knell For TDP?

By Prabhakar Reddy | Hyderabad

Telugu Desam party supremo Chandrababu Naidu did not mince words in holding the Bharatiya Janata Party equally responsible for its “failure” in protecting the interests of people of Seemaandhra. He asserted that the BJP had “failed” in its responsibility as the main Opposition. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the TDP is opposed to carving out of a separate Telangana, according to Naidu himself. 

Why 'Chandrababu' Is 'Scared' On 'Cash-For-Vote' Scam?

Caught in the middle of the cash-for-votes scam, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He is likely to demand a probe into the alleged cash-for-vote scam.

As the wrangling between the Andhra and Telangana intensified, 50 FIRs were registered by Andhra Pradesh Police against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for alleged illegal tapping of phones of his Andhra counterpart.

'Batting For The Third Front, On The Backfoot'

Two architects of the Third Front in 1996-98, Chandrababu Naidu and HD Deve Gowda, are mere regional players today and more focussed on becoming players of consequence in their backyard.

Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s body language changes the moment you mention the United Front. He breaks into a half smile and his gait turns more lively as he tells you — with a degree of pride — how he refused the offer to be India’s prime minister not once, but twice within a year, between 1996 and 1997. Naidu instead chose to be the convenor of the United Front, a ragtag coalition of non-Congress, non-BJP parties that cobbled together a rickety government supported by the Congress and the CPM from the outside.

In effect, there was nothing united about the group, despite the front they tried to put up.

Naidu’s comrade-in-arms during the birth of the United Front was HD Deve Gowda. Out of the blue, the chief minister of Karnataka was pitchforked into the top job in the country after Jyoti Basu’s party did not allow the West Bengal CM to move to New Delhi.

It wasn’t easy to lead such a group where every regional chieftain liked to flex his or her muscles but Gowda managed by trying to keep the Congress MPs happy so that they ensured party president Sitaram Kesri did not pull the plug. But even though he took Hindi tuition in the hope that his stay at 7, Race Course Road will be long, he behaved more like the prime minister of Karnataka, and did not let his successor in Bangalore, JH Patel, work in peace. Gowda’s tendency to keep his eyes shut most of the time meant he was a photographer’s delight as newspapers went to town projecting him as the PM who sleeps at public functions.

Chandrababu Naidu's Padyatra Across Andhra Pradesh

Finally, when Sitaram Kesri decided to declare Gowda’s innings, the prime minister went out all guns blazing, his political oratory stunning just about everyone. His farewell speech in the Lok Sabha was full of vitriol against Kesri as he vowed to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

While it seemed the end of the road for Gowda, for Naidu, the time spent dabbling in national politics was an opportunity to wipe off the unsavoury reputation he had gained after having dethroned his father-in- law NT Rama Rao in a palace coup in August 1995.

Today, as there is once again talk of the possibility of a Third Front emerging, both these players are in silent mode. Both Chandrababu Naidu and Deve Gowda are no more than regional players who do not have the capacity to play political football in the maidans of Delhi.

Naidu is facing what can easily be described as the biggest challenge in his political career. A third defeat in a row in the Assembly polls next year is something he just cannot afford because that will put a huge question mark over his ability to lead the Telugu Desam (TDP). The TDP is no longer a formidable presence at the national level since the number of MPs it has sent to the Lok Sabha in 2004 and 2009 did not cross single digits.

Which is why the 62-year-old Naidu is not enthusiastic about Mulayam Singh Yadav’s talk of cobbling together a Third Front. He knows that unless he is able to capture Andhra Pradesh — both at the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls — he will be a political persona non grata in Delhi. He is aware that if his political rival YS Jaganmohan Reddy does better than him, Mulayam and Akhilesh Yadav would lose no time in co-opting Jagan into the Third Front fold, leaving Naidu out in the cold. Which is why Naidu would much rather prefer to speak after the elections.

Naidu is also wiser from experience. In 2009, convinced that the TDP was making a comeback in Hyderabad, he spent a lot of time in the familiar company of Prakash Karat, AB Bardhan and Mulayam Singh Yadav, announcing that the Third Front will form the next government in Delhi. The results showed him his place. Not only did he have to remain content as the Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh, his tally in the Lok Sabha did nothing to significantly alter the arithmetic of the Lower House of Parliament.

In most constituencies of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, Naidu’s TDP will be pitted against the YSR Congress and opinion polls indicate that despite Jagan being behind bars, his party has an edge. Naidu is walking the extra mile, literally, to cover the distance.

On 2 October 2012, he embarked on a padyatra from Anantapur district in the Rayalaseema region and and will end his walkathon in the end of April in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. But the jury is still out on whether his personal connect will translate into votes for his party. Naidu’s main problem is himself, as nine years of being in the Opposition has made him turn his back on most things he espoused as chief minister.

This crisis of credibility coupled with his standing in Telangana, where he is not seen as someone who is fully in favour of statehood to the region, has eroded his party’s strength in the state.
When he was CM, Naidu had ambitiously floated Vision 2020, with a long-term objective of what Andhra Pradesh will be in 2020. He firmly believed he would rule the state till then. Indeed, if 2004 and YS Rajasekhara Reddy had not happened, Naidu would have certainly entertained thoughts of moving to Delhi, propelled by a Narendra Modi-like PR and social media machinery, talking of a modern India. Instead, Naidu is on the road, embracing the real world, while junking the virtual.

In Comparison, Deve Gowda seems to be in semi-retirement mode. His party, the Janata Dal(Secular) is run by his son HD Kumaraswamy, who is also the face of the party in Karnataka. Despite having produced a PM, the party has nothing to crow about beyond Karnataka’s borders. Political analyst SA Hemantha Kumar describes Gowda’s party as “a national political party in form but a regional party in content”.

To be fair to Gowda, the 79-year-old leader has ensured his farmer constituency in Karnataka stays with him. Even for the Assembly election on 5 May, he has been trying to build an emotional pitch around Cauvery waters. In a state whose politics has always been dominated by the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, he has remained the tallest Vokkaliga leader, with no one in the Congress who can match him. Not even a retired-hurt SM Krishna.

But just like in the case of Naidu, Gowda faces a huge trust deficit that has kept his party away from the throne. Kumaraswamy dumped the Congress to join hands with BS Yeddyurappa to become chief minister in 2006 but when the turn came to hand over the reign to the BJP after 20 months, he did not keep his word.

File Photo

Though Deve Gowda said his son’s alliance with the BJP did not have his blessings, very few bought his talk. He is one of the most shrewd minds in Indian politics, who will go the extra mile if he smells political advantage.

The Multicornered contest in the Assembly election offers Gowda his best chance to make a comeback in Karnataka politics. Marginalised in the 2008 Assembly polls, this time the JD(S)would hope to gain from the anti-BJP sentiment in the state. Given that his pockets of influence are limited, Gowda knows while he cannot be king, he can certainly be kingmaker.

The grapevine in Bangalore suggests Kumaraswamy has a line open with the BJP and the two could join hands if both put together get the numbers to form the government. Alternately, Gowda could offer the hand of friendship to the Congress as well, in case the party finds itself short of numbers.

His training as a civil engineer allows Deve Gowda the luxury to build castles in the air. So even while he plans a good showing in the Vidhana Soudha, many believe Gowda is also thinking of Race Course Road. He thinks neither the Congress nor the BJP will get enough numbers to form the next government in Delhi. And in a fluid situation, Gowda can be expected to throw his hat into the ring. “He could present a quid pro quo deal to pitch himself for the top job with either party in return for supporting either of them in Bangalore. He is keeping his options open. He is keen to play a dominant role at the Centre,” says Hemantha Kumar.

Most pundits have been trying to guess who could be the Deve Gowda of 2014, in the event of a hung Parliament. Deve Gowda would like no one else to play that role. And if Naidu does manage a decent showing next year, the two principal characters in those fading images of 1996-98 could make a comeback. Just a bit more grey.

Inside Chandrababu Naidu’s plan to make Andhra Pradesh a sunrise state

Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘Sunrise Andhra Pradesh-Vision 2029’ aims to make the state India’s most developed, overcoming the legacy issues that came with the creation of Telangana.

In the calendar of the state administration of Andhra Pradesh, the second day of the week is not a Monday. Instead, it is designated Polavaram day—after the ambitious multi-purpose irrigation project that entails interlinking the unruly waters of the Godavari and the Krishna to bridge the water deficit in the latter’s river basin.

Telugu Desam Saves Govt, Of 'No-Trust' Move In AP

The TDP, which decided late on Tuesday not to support the no-confidence motion proposed to be moved by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), surreptitiously provided the lifeline to the Congress government, lending credence to the charge of the YSR Congress that the ruling and the main opposition parties have ‘behind-the-scene’ truck.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s utterances that the TRS and the YSR Congress were hand in glove to bring down the government with a view to avoiding the local body elections, “in which a severe beating is in store for both parties,” was repeated by Chandrababu Naidu exactly, as if he was joining the chorus with the Chief Minister.

If the local body elections are held on party symbols, who stands where in the popular index would come out. That said, the Congress has its numbers to weather the no-confidence storm even if the TDP did not come forth to infuse life into it, just a few hours before the commencement of the budget session of the Assembly.

The padayatra of YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s sister, Shamrila, has a daffy agenda of demanding that Chandrababu Naidu moves a no-confidence motion against the Government. However much ludicrous the demand may sound to be, she keeps on chanting it like a mantra at every meeting that she addresses as part of her ‘maro praja prasthanam’ padayatra.

The YSRC leaders too were worried for a while, if they have to devise a newer slogan to pack her speech and also that the party may have to desist from continuing the charge of ‘match-fixing’  between the Congress and the TDP. Unwittingly, the TDP ensured that the  YSRC is spared of reworking its slogans and strategy.

Naidu himself may not vote against Congress
Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu himself won’t be available for casting his vote in favour of a no-confidence motion against Kiran Kumar Reddy Government, just in case it comes to the level of headcount. Of course, he can vote against the Government only if he takes a break from his padayatra  – like he did to attend the funeral of his colleague Yerran Naidu — and participates in the Assembly proceedings.

The Congress need not worry as it has enough friends to bail out the party in hour of crisis.Whenever the Congress government slips into trouble, there is no dearth of “friends” to bail out the ruling party.

The three major players in the state – Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress – are unanimous in their opinion that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government should go but they lack unanimity in achieving the goal.

With a friendly opposition in the state and a sub-regional party which never uttered a single word against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the last eight years and a new party in the form of YSR Congress, which is giving an impression to people that it’s more than willing to help the Congress, no one can expect that the Kiran Kumar Government will not collapse even if the entire opposition parties join hands as the numbers are in favour of the ruling party in the state.

For instance, the Congress-led UPA government has been poking fun at the TRS over its demand for a separate state but its leader K Chandrasekhar Rao reposes faith in the party and enjoys a love-hate relationship with the party. He camped in Delhi for nearly a month in September last hoping to get an audience with Sonia Gandhi but no one in 10 Janpath even acknowledged his presence except for some soothing words from Union Ministers Vayalar Ravi and Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Though the TRS chief made occasional statements of joining hands with the BJP-led NDA, he is unlikely to do so as even the saffron party is faltering in many states. Now the TRS plans to move no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state but it is aimed at creating uncomfortable moments for the Telugu Desam and YSRC rather than the Congress government.

Coming to the Telugu Desam, its president N Chandrababu Naidu spares no effort in abusing the Congress government and even turns into a revolutionary by asking people to come on to the streets with crowbars, sickles and spears and kill the Congress party. But when it comes to tabling a no-confidence motion, it will be the Telugu Desam which will be in the front to shield the Congress government.

Even when the voting was taking place in the Rajya Sabha on the FDI, three Telugu Desam MPs were absent and the party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who went hammer and tongs against the UPA government for allowing FDI in retail sector, failed to take action. One of the Union Ministers waxed eloquently after the voting on FDI that there were some “invisible” friends in the Opposition to bail out the government.

In case of YSR Congress, which is bleeding the Congress to death by encouraging defections, has been demanding the Telugu Desam to initiate the process to bring down the government in the state says that it will support the TRS-sponsored no confidence motion only if it benefits the state. 

The YSRC is also ambiguous on its stand in supporting the Congress at the Centre. The party ruled out supporting the communal BJP at the Centre but would support the secular parties led by the Congress or the Third Front. All these parties are helping the Congress, either at the Centre or in the State, in one way or the other for their own interests. Under these circumstances, it is anybody’s guess on the outcome of the no confidence motion against the Congress government in the state.

Consequent upon Naidu’s teleconference, TRS legislator T Harish Rao reacted in the most-anticipated manner.

By avoiding to take the name of the TDP during his speech of ‘self-proclaimed bravery’ at a Government programme in Mahbubnagar district on Tuesday, the Chief Minister acknowledged the ‘relationship’ the Congress has with the TDP on the sly. This is the argument presented by Jagan’s newspaper, Sakshi, which may not be completely an off-the-cuff remark, for it’s attempt to justify the argument hasn’t been very difficult.

Now that the State Government is fully confident of encountering the challenge of no-confidence, it becomes more emboldened to go ahead with its own agenda. Nonetheless, it is very much worried over the possibility of some more defections which may reduce its majority on t he floor of the House.

The TDP’s rhetoric that it had made a great decision by not kowtowing before the TRS sounds little odd. The chest-beating by TDP legislators Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, Mothkupalli Narsimhulu and Tummala Nageswara Rao is just a prelude to the TDP-friendly media to endorse and issue a conduct certificate to the main opposition party’s decision not to support the no-trust move.

The Telugu Desam Party could insulate itself of an embarrassment of toeing the line of the TRS, for the latter wanted to move the no-confidence motion against the Congress Government for its failure to create a separate Telangana as the main point, supplemented by the people’s problems. However, Harish Rao said that the TDP’s double standards on the Telangana issue were exposed once again.

MLAs on the rampage in AP assembly

DEVELOPING STORY

Chaos broke out in the AP state assembly today, when a major row broke out between the CM Reddy and the leader of the opposition, TDP's Chandrababu Naidu. Reddy challenged Naidu that he would complain to agencies, if he found fault with the companies run by his son, YS Jagmohan Reddy. He lashed out at Naidu for casting aspersions on his character and accusing him and his family of being complicit in the Satyam scandal, due to their alleged proximity with the ex-Satyam Chief, Ramalinga Raju. YSR alleged that Heritage Foods, a company promoted by Naidu's family, sold Rs 60 crore worth of land for a mere Rs 3 crore to a subsidiary Heritage Infra, thereby causing heavy loss to the shareholders.

A pandemonium broke out in the Andhra Pradesh state assembly, when a major row broke out between the Chief Minister YSR Reddy and the leader of the opposition, TDP's Chandrababu Naidu.

Reddy challenged Naidu that he would complain to agencies, if he found fault with the companies run by his son, YS Jagmohan Reddy. YSR lashed out at Naidu for casting aspersions on his character and accusing him and his family of being complicit in the Satyam scandal, due to their alleged proximity with the ex-Satyam Chief, Ramalinga Raju.

YSR then alleged that Heritage Foods, a company promoted by Naidu's family, sold Rs 60 crore worth of land for a mere Rs 3 crore to a subsidiary Heritage Infra, thereby causing heavy loss to the shareholders.

Eventually pandemonium broke out in the assembly following which the house was adjourned twice. Assembly Affairs Minister Rosaiah introduced motion of suspension of opposition members.

Following which, Speaker Suresh Reddy suspended 55 members. Members denied to leave the house and marshals had to pull the members out of house. In the bargain, one TDP MLA P Keshav was injured.

Andhra Pradesh CM had said on Tuesday that there was "nothing amiss" in the companies run by his son and challenged Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu to lodge "complaint" against them if he finds any fault.

"There is nothing amiss in the affairs of either Sandur Power Company or other subsidiaries floated by my son Jaganmohan Reddy and business partners," the chief minister had said, reacting to the allegations leveled by Naidu during the course of debate on Satyam scandal in the Assembly.

He said, "If there is anything wrong, you can approach the proper agencies with your complaint". What's wrong in it? If shares of Sakshi newspaper, floated by Jagan were sold at a higher price than the face value," Reddy added.

AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu Is Against The Dynasty Rule, Why He Is Grooming His Son Lokesh?

By RADHAKRISHNA | INNLIVE

Stanford-educated Nara Lokesh, who is already deeply involved in party and government affairs, is expected to lead the Telugu Desam Party in 2019.

In 1985, the Telugu Desam Party was in the midst of an angry internal churn. N Chandrababu Naidu, the party’s general secretary, fought tooth and nail against his father-in-law and party founder NT Rama Rao’s proposal to name his son, Nandamuri Balakrishna, an actor, as his political heir.

The Growing Tussle Between Two-Chief Ministers Of India

By M H Ahssan
Group Editor in Chief

As the time is passing the tussle between two-fire-brand chief ministers is growing to it's peak. One claims the complete involvement of cash-on-vote scam, another accused to master the entire episode.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has the image of being media-savvy. He does occasionally fumble for words and sentences, but generally, he conveys the impression of being a mature politician.

Neta’s Natter: Telugu Desam Party Desperate Moves

Telugu Desam (TD) Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu is pulling out all the stops to win the next polls, which he says is a “historic necessity”. After the longest padayatra ever by a politician in the state, Naidu is now planning a bus yatra. Naidu stood solidly behind the Kiran Kumar Reddy government and prevented a collapse since he wasn’t prepared to face early elections.

He now says a TD win is a historic necessity. “What our leader says is correct. The TD has to win to keep the party intact. A win will save the party and a defeat will disintegrate it. The TD cannot afford to lose,” said a party leader. Naidu is leaving nothing to chance.

While it is debatable whether sweating it out on his massive walkathon, despite his age and the scorching weather, will reap dividends, doling out promotions to party leaders to prevent them from moving to other parties is probably a wise move bearing in mind the old saying about certain rodents deserting a sinking ship.

Naidu pep talk to party boomerangs
Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu’s energising talk to party cadres appears to have done more harm than good. Reports quoted him saying that the party would have to wind up if it failed to win the 2014 election.

What was meant to galvanise the cadres actually disheartened them and also raised serious doubts about the ability of the party’s heir apparent and Naidu’s son Lokesh, to lead the party. Naidu’s comments came at a time when Lokesh is positioning himself as the successor and trying to keep rival and film hero Jr NTR at a safe distance from the party. “Our boss might be desperate but his comments indirectly indicate that he has no faith in Lokesh bouncing back in 2019 even if the party lost in 2014,” lamented a senior party leader.

Congress takes credit
In the Mahabharata, for Karna every boon turned into a curse, but for Arjuna, every curse became a boon. This happens in the political Mahabharata, too. Opposition parties criticised the state government and Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for the hikes in power tariff.

Some ruling party members also criticised the Chief Minister and demanded that the power tariff be reduced for the common man. The Chief Minister took the demands seriously and afforded some relief to poorer consumers.

Loath to give the Opposition parties any of the credit for the lowering of tariffs, senior Congress MLA and former minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy pointed out that Congress leaders, including himself, had criticised the Chief Minister for the high rates. So the Congress also has the right to claim credit, he said.

Shankar’s trantrums
Former minister and senior Congress MLA P. Shankar Rao has promised to spare the media his tedious press conferences if they investigate a certain project. Shankar constantly criticises Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and other leaders. In fact, his single-point programme is to criticise someone every day.

The media is pretty fed up with his daily press conferences. On Friday, he criticised the Chief Minister as usual. But, for a change, he wished good health to YSR Congress honorary president Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is on his interminable walkathon.

He wound up the conference by saying that if the media doesn’t want to hear from him again, they should make enquiries about the Greenfield lands’ issue in which he is facing certain allegations. If the allegations against him are proved, then he will not hold any press conferences in future, he said. But if the allegations against him are indeed proved where will he go? Straight behind bars most likely, in which case there will be an official ban on all press conferences!

Babus’ tiff with leaders
The current tribal welfare commissioner Somesh is under fire from his staff for what they alleged in a memorandum submitted to the government, his highhanded behaviour. The staff even marked a copy of their complaint to Somesh himself.

Somesh is not in good odour with tribal welfare minister P. Balaraju either for transferring the project director of Paderu ITDA, which falls in the minister’s native Visakhapatnam district, without ministerji’s knowledge. Khammam district collector Siddharth Jain, too, has rubbed up politicians the wrong way. MLAs of the district have complained to the Chief Minister that the collector is not following protocol.

State will miss RS
Yet another officer will most likely be leaving for the national capital soon. Principal secretary (rural development) R. Subrahmanyam is tipped to join the Union finance ministry as joint secretary.

He is known for his hard work and effective implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and Self-Help Group schemes. The state will be missing a good officer at least for the next five years.

KCR Versus Naidu: A 'Soured' Relationship Beyond Repair

The relationship between Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhara Rao popularly known as KCR and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Nara Chandrababu Naidu goes back to the late 1970s. The once close friends have turned bitter enemies in the late 1990s and early 2000s have crossed swords once again. 

While Naidu hails from the southernmost part of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, KCR hails from Medak in Telangana. Interestingly, both of them started their career in the youth Congress in the 1970s. Both fought on the Congress ticket against N T Ramarao's newly founded Telugu Desam Party or TDP in the historic 1983 Assembly elections, which made NTR the first non-Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. KCR and Naidu lost that election to the TDP.

'Telangana Game': Why Jagan, Cong, Naidu All Are Guilty?

By M H Ahssan / INN Live

Success, they say, has many fathers. An unforgivable screw-up resulting in an offspring whose paternity is in doubt will lead to finger-pointing all around. This sums up the all-party political dilemma over the creation of Telangana, announced by the Congress with various ifs and buts on 9 December 2009. 

With two regional parties now rejecting paternity – N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress – and both going on a fast to prove their on-off fidelity to the idea of a united Andhra Pradesh, Congress trouble-maker Digvijaya Singh has been offering his own version of a DNA test to resolve the issue.