Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh has most of the qualities of a quaint, peaceful south Indian town. There is abundant greenery, complemented by pleasant faces and soft-spoken voices. On regular days, local people would be concerned more about job opportunities in Bengaluru and Chennai (120km and 250km away, respectively) than in Hyderabad (at a moon’s distance of 650km).
But this is election time, and politics has taken centre-stage. Part of Chittoor district in the Rayalaseema region, the Kuppam assembly constituency is the bastion of N. Chandrababu Naidu—Telugu Desam Party chief, eight-time MLA and three-time, CEO-like chief minister.
But people are talking less about Naidu than two women who are not contesting the polls. One of them is Durga Padmini, an entrepreneur who hails from Hyderabad. Durga is the wife of K.R.J. Bharath, MLC and YSR Congress leader who is Naidu’s opponent in Kuppam. She has been on a mission to reach every household in the constituency, and sources say that she has met 90 per cent of rural families and voters in less than one year. In some cases, she has even extended financial help.
With elections due in May, the YSR Congress, led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, wants to dislodge Naidu from his home turf. Durga’s efforts to woo voters, especially women, is part of the groundwork.
Last month saw Naidu’s countermove—Naidu’s wife, Nara Bhuvaneshwari, visited Kuppam and engaged in charitable work. But not before meeting local TDP workers and making an interesting joke. “Seeing all of you, I have a desire to contest from this seat. Let us give him (Naidu) some rest,” she quipped, prompting loud cheers from the workers, especially women.
Bhuvaneshwari and Durga are locked in a battle to forge bonds with voters. After Naidu was arrested in a corruption case last year, Bhuvaneshwari emerged from his shadows to back her husband. She started a campaign—‘Nijam Gelavali’ (truth should triumph)—and travelled to various places in the state to visit people whose relatives were said to have died of shock from Naidu’s arrest.
With the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh to be held simultaneously, Naidu is relying on a string of allies to defeat Jagan and return to power. Undoubtedly, the TDP’s most significant ally now is the BJP. In March 2018, when he was chief minister, Naidu had walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, citing the Union government’s failure in granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh. In the subsequent assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the TDP received a drubbing—it could win just 23 seats in the assembly and three seats to the Lok Sabha.
Naidu changed tactics after the drubbing. In the past five years, he and his partymen have refrained from attacking the BJP and kept distance from the INDIA bloc. Olive branches were extended to the saffron party from time to time. Last week, the BJP finally came on board, and a coalition of the TDP, the BJP, and actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party was formed.
Best foot forward: Naidu with Pawan Kalyan, who acted as an intermediary in achieving a breakthrough in alliance talks with the BJP.
The days leading up to the announcement of the coalition in Delhi tested Naidu’s skill and patience. “When the talks with the BJP were still dragging on, the first list of assembly candidates was announced by the TDP and the JSP, putting soft pressure on the BJP. At the same time, when the BJP put forward unreasonable terms, like wanting 10 of 25 parliamentary seats even though it had negligible vote share, he almost conceded and gave away six,” said a source in Delhi who closely tracked the negotiations.
The BJP’s sole interest is in winning Lok Sabha seats with the help of a powerful regional party like the TDP, and showcasing a bulked-up NDA with newer allies. For Naidu, the alliance means securing the odds in having the ruling party at the Centre acting as a shield if YSR Congress retains power in the state and cases against him continue to be investigated.
The TDP also has to address the challenges arising out of the new alliance—the possibility of losing minority votes, discontent among ticket aspirants, and finding a new, rational stance regarding the special category status with respect to the NDA, as it was the sole reason why the TDP had earlier quit the alliance.
“We are joining the NDA again in the interest of the state, since the state is almost beyond repair now,” said Varla Ramaiah, the TDP’s national general secretary. “The way people showed concern and extended their support when Naidu was arrested made him take this decision, as the citizens have no capital, jobs or bright future.”
Ramaiah said the allotment of party tickets is bound to cause “slight discontent”. “Ticket aspirants had been working for three to four years, but sacrifices have to be made if we have to beat a figure like Jagan. The party cadre and leaders understand that,” he said. As regards the special category status, he said that they were expecting a “favourable announcement” from the NDA that would help the state economically.
“It is incorrect to conclude that minority voters will not vote for the TDP because of the alliance,” he said. “There are many Muslim and Christian leaders in the BJP. Some of them even participated in the recent Ram Temple inauguration. We have their support, and everyone in the party is enthusiastic that we are coming to power.”
Before the 2019 polls, actor-politician Pawan Kalyan had levelled corruption charges against Naidu. But after the YSR Congress came to power, Kalyan’s JSP has been friendly with the TDP. The two parties got closer after Naidu’s arrest, and the JSP acted as an intermediary in achieving a breakthrough in alliance talks. Kalyan has since become Naidu’s close partner.
“The TDP and the JSP are two different parties with two configurations, but it was Pawan Kalyan’s decision to come together as every section in the state is facing a repressive atmosphere,” said JSP spokesperson Ajaya Kumar Vemulapati. “When the TDP was going through tough times, our president (Kalyan) supported the party, which sealed the deal. It wasn’t an opportunistic act. The TDP, in turn, took an extra step to welcome us. The JSP was like a fulcrum as our president put in efforts to convince the BJP because of their (TDP-BJP) history.”
The TDP-JSP alliance is seen as a coming together of two solid, caste-based vote banks—the Kamma and Kapu communities. The TDP is hopeful that Pawan Kalyan’s Kapu community and its subcastes, which constitute 25 per cent of voters, will take its side. “We will be a part of the progressive government and play an effective role,” said Vemulapati. “We will also be the conscience keeper.”
Interestingly, Naidu has found support from an unexpected quarter—Jagan’s relatives who are at odds with him. Recently, during a protest, Jagan’s sister and state Congress president Y.S. Sharmila made a comparison between Naidu and Jagan’s rule. “Naidu’s rule was better than this,” she said. Also, Sunitha Reddy, daughter of Jagan’s uncle Vivekananda Reddy, who was murdered in 2019, appealed to the people to not vote for the YSR Congress.
Jagan’s supporters allege that both the family members are being “managed” and “influenced” by Naidu. Adding to their worry, political strategist Prashant Kishor, who had helped Jagan come to power in 2019, is now hobnobbing with TDP leaders and playing an unofficial role as an adviser-strategist.
The BJP camp is a mixed bag of emotions. Unlike the national leadership, a section of party leaders in the state were against the alliance. The party had played second fiddle to Naidu when it was part of the TDP government from 2014 to 2018. This time around, the BJP’s state unit has decided not to repeat it.
“We will not join the government in the state, as this is the only way our party will grow,” said the BJP’s state vice president P.V.N. Madhav. “But we want Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s style of governance to be emulated here.”