B Krishna Prasad
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is facing a peculiar situation regarding the path he has to take to ensure his survival. He may have to go along with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as he is facing a strong opposition although it is a bit weak at present.
Naidu is naturally capable of assessing the political situation from time to time, particularly when it turns against his party’s interests. But now he is facing a peculiar situation as he has to simultaneously make his son who is a Cabinet colleague capable with leadership qualities and also take along the administration smoothly.
It may not be easy to achieve this considering the condition of the ruling alliance. Any further development can take place in AP only as per the directions of the NDA’s national leadership irrespective of the personal capabilities of Naidu.
The Chief Minister is facing challenges in implementing his Super Six welfare schemes that gave the NDA a grand victory. The partners of the TDP like the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the BJP also felt happy over the outcome of the 2024 elections and have confidence in their combined strength for ruling the State. Although the TDP won enough seats to form a government on its own, it deliberately endorsed the alliance for securing a landslide. Initially, the TDP leadership thought that its cadres were moved by the grand victory of the alliance which they considered as purely their party’s triumph despite the presence of other partners in the alliance. This situation can be compared with that of the post-poll scenario in 2014.
Local body polls were held a year before the general elections in 2013. The TDP swept the polls much before the alliance materialised to fight the general elections. There was almost the same poll combination then. The TDP and the BJP had an alliance and the unconditional support of JSP president Pawan Kalyan. He decided not to contest to prevent a split in the vote bank of the alliance. Although the TDP and the BJP won with the support of the JSP, TDP cadres started saying that the success was due to their strength as there was no alliance with the BJP and the JSP at the time of local body polls the previous year. This means that the people of Andhra Pradesh voted for the TDP much before the general elections.
The financial condition of the State is such that it has to take loans even to run the administration. The government is in such an embarrassing situation that it couldn’t pay the salaries of its employees in time. The TDP leadership used to blame the admin headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for its inability to pay salaries to government employees on the first day of every month. But the government headed by Naidu is also facing the same situation.
After the implementation of the Super Six schemes, it may become an uphill task for the government to effectively deal with the situation.
Chief Minister Naidu appears to be a changed man compared to his 2014-19 stint. He thought that his ideas regarding the construction of the new capital Amaravati for residual Andhra Pradesh could be executed during his next term. He had drawn up plans by holding meetings with consultancies regarding the construction of Amaravati. Naidu is now focused on finishing at least 60% of the construction of the capital city in the next three years.
If Amaravati is 60 per cent complete, then the next government has to continue with it. It can’t go for three capitals despite its strong aversion towards the TDP. Naidu knows that it is not easy to retain power even if he rules effectively. The political history of United AP proves the fact that mainline political parties don’t have a chance to continue ruling. The Congress suffered a lot at the hands of the TDP with two consecutive defeats in 1994 and 1999. NTR headed the TDP in 1994 and CBN steered the organisation. The TDP suffered the same humiliating defeat in 2004 and 2009 at the hands of Congress’s Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. No party has won the people’s mandate a second time in the residual State of AP as the TDP lost in 2019 and the YSRCP lost in 2024.
Meanwhile, the TDP couldn’t focus on political matters. Although it is playing the role of big brother in the alliance, it has to survive politically. If the situation turns favourable for the YSRCP, then that would be a loss for the TDP. Although it is not recognised as the opposition in the Assembly, the YSRCP has a strong base across the State.
The TDP thinks that there is a need to keep itself politically active to ensure survival in politics. Considering all these limitations, Naidu will have to go with the NDA partners to ensure his party’s future.
