Chandrababu Naidu's Comeback

The political landscape in the bifurcated state of Andhra Pradesh was riddled with uncertainty and haziness only a few months ago. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in particular, was in total disarray due to its ambivalence on the tricky issue of state bifurcation. The party had suffered an ignominious defeat in both the Telangana and Seemandhra regions in by-elections held at different points of time during the last few years, mostly due to defections and resignations within the party. The party’s comeback, led by Naidu, was considered near impossible as the party had struggled to even retain deposits in the by-elections. Such an expectation was belied when Chandrababu Naidu and his party made a remarkable turnaround in the Lok Sabha elections held recently. How did this happen?

The issue of state bifurcation had inflicted heavy damages on the fortunes of the TDP before the Lok Sabha elections. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi had spearheaded the movement for a separate state of Telangana. The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) took a stand in favour of united Andhra Pradesh despite early prevarications over the issue as the Telangana region offered no political fortunes for it. Being a national party, the Congress was comfortable by remaining on both sides of the fence. The only party that was in deep trouble was the TDP. The TDP whose political capital lay in catering to Telugu pride had and continues to have a sizeable presence in both the regions. This precisely was the reason behind TDP’s ambivalence. But the bifurcation of the state seems to have benefited TDP more than any other party.