The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), not surprisingly, lobbied hard for two seats—Kukatpally and Serilingampally. These two constituencies partially cover the IT corridor of Hyderabad where Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu enjoys some goodwill as it was during his time that Microsoft and other tech giants set shop here. These constituencies, adjoining to one another, are also inhabited by a large number of settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema region.
It was a wise move by Naidu to pick these two seats of the 13 contested by the TDP as part of seat-sharing with the Congress, the CPI and the Telangana Jana Samithi under the banner of the People’s Front. A rich businessman and film producer, ‘Bhavya’ Ananda Prasad, was handpicked by Naidu to contest in Serilingampally, while legendary actor and TDP founder NT Rama Rao’s granddaughter, Nandamuri Suhasini, was nominated to Kukatpally seat. The idea was to bag these two seats with big majorities by the TDP and the chances looked bright.
The prime reason was that in 2014, A. Gandhi, TDP candidate from Serilingampally, who is now in the TRS, had won with the highest majority in the entire Telangana. The TDP candidate from Kukatpally, M. Krishna Rao, who is also in the TRS now, too, had won comfortably in 2014.
Hence, TDP's decision to field Suhasini and Prasad was part of a strategic move by Naidu. The two fresh candidates nominated by the TDP for the 2018 elections belong to the powerful ‘Kamma’ caste to which Naidu himself belongs to. With NTR's granddaughter in the fray, the elections will bring together the entire Kamma community members, along with NTR fans and TDP supporters to work towards the party’s victory in not only those two seats, but also the surrounding ones.
To an extent, it worked as planned as a number of TDP supporters from Andhra Pradesh descended in Hyderabad to do their bit for her victory. However, the TRS pulled a fast one right under Naidu's nose.
According to sources, the TRS brought the local TDP and the Congress cadre to its side. So much so that, more than TRS workers, the mid-level leaders and cadres of the TDP and the Congress worked for the ruling party. This also explains why huge amounts of cash were seized from the TDP supporters in Kukatpally and Serilingampally multiple times.
“Coverts in TDP worked overtime to tip off TRS about the candidate’s moves. All the rebels and disgruntled elements in the Congress and the TDP were also on TRS's side. This ensured that vote transfer did not happen. The fact that the two TDP candidates were contesting elections for the first time also helped the TRS candidates up their game as they did not have any connect with the grassroots,” said a local political worker who did not wish to be named.
Naidu and actor-MLA Balakrishna campaigned extensively in both Kukatpally and Serilingampally. The idea that the entire ‘settler’ community, some of whom are traditional voters of the party, would vote for the TDP also did not turn true. Settlers from Andhra and Rayalaseema, who are supporters of YSR Congress Party and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, silently voted for the TRS thanks to the prevailing political situation in Andhra Pradesh. Many youngsters dumped the TDP for the TRS because of their admiration for K.T. Rama Rao, former minister and a polished face of the TRS. Looking at the latest trends, the TDP seems to have lost its ground across Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
