In what could be termed as a desperate move, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and leader of the Telugu Desam Party Chandrababu Naidu is seeking to join hands with Congress in Telangana. This move might seem to be the only one possible for him following the split from National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but the catch is that he is looking to fight even with the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. Like a true opportunist, Naidu plans to fight in coalition with the Congress in Telangana, a state in which his party is on the back foot, while in Andhra Pradesh where his party is dominant he does not want to share the pie with anyone else. This type of ridiculous arrangement for two states which share borders and cultures could be made possible only due to the greed of Chandrababu Naidu and the weak position of Congress in both the states.
Chandrababu Naidu’s MPs had voted for the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman elections held recently. The No-confidence motion initiated by TDP too had received Congress backing. Naidu himself has dropped many hints to show that he is interested in forming a coalition with the Congress now that his bond with the NDA is broken. Telugu Desam Party is in a strong position in Andhra Pradesh but it is a minor party in Telangana with just three seats in the state assembly. Congress on the other hand with 13 seats in Telangana is much stronger and Naidu is looking to build on that to gain relevance in the state. His unwillingness to share seats in Andhra Pradesh is due to Naidu’s confidence of the state voters favouring him again owing to his political game with the NDA. While TDP is looking to extract the maximum possible benefits of the Congress owing to its feeble presence in the south, he is forgetting that the real fight would be with BJP. His antics since the start of this year have ensured that the people have grown weary of his style of breaking and forming coalitions for greed.
This situation would be a déjà vu for the Congress which had earlier fought elections in West Bengal in coalition with the Communist parties. At the same time they remained enemies in Kerala where the Communist parties usually held sway. Lies of Chandrababu Naidu who had broken ties with NDA citing excuses such as BJP not granting special to the state had been already debunked by the central government which had exposed TDP’s real agenda behind the split. All the drama had occurred to hide their own shortcomings in the state, pinning the blame of the state government’s failures on the central government. Now with rumours of TDP joining hands with the Congress doing the rounds it is clear that TDP will fall to any level to stay in power. Congress needs to stay aware of the use and throw attitude with which TDP plays its politics as the rest of India has found out the hard way.