Dark clouds hover over the destiny of Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh who is not only losing the general Lok Sabha elections by securing just 2 seats but will be biting the dust even in the assembly elections. With YSRCP taking a lead in 110 seats, crossing the 88-mark, TDP is only able to perform in 25 seats. It is a bad day for Chandrababu Naidu while YSRCP will be winning with a sweep. In the wake of the 2019 elections, the formation of new alliances, the genesis of unique strategies, the evolution of trailblazing promises and switching sides by leaders has not been a new phenomenon. But when it comes to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, he appears in a league of his own.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is currently in a ‘plasma state’ i.e. stuck in the middle of everything. Interestingly, the genesis of this situation dates back to May 2018, the time when the ‘marvellous idea’ of parting ways with the BJP came to Naidu’s mind, prior to the assembly election in Telangana.
Accusing the BJP for all his failures, he left the NDA and afterwards, the seasoned politician decided to go solo. In a quest to constitute a formidable opposition, Naidu advocated for a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance. But when other political stakeholders discarded the ‘idea’, he finally formed an opportunistic alliance with the Congress party, betraying the very founding principle of TDP. TDP was formed by NT Rama Rao (Naidu’s father in law) with a single agenda of dethroning the Congress in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. And Rao, who was one of the stalwarts of south politics, did achieve this feat and thus in 1983, for the first time, a non-Congress government was formed in the state.
Withering away with the legacy of NTR, Naidu is all set to lose Andhra Pradesh. His choices and statements hold no substance anymore. Following the foot-steps of Rao, Chandrababu Naidu during 2014 general elections had said, “Our aim is to make nation free of corrupt Congress. Will do whatever is best to ensure it. History shows we were unselfish in alliance. Selfishness greed, lead AP Congress leaders fall on feet of Sonia Gandhi. History from 1983 will repeat. TDP will wipe out Congress”. But this time, he has sidelined all ethics and morality he earlier talked about. Touting his greed as ‘democratic compulsion’, he formed a temporary alliance, “Mahakutami” to contest the Telangana assembly elections. However, the people of Telangana being aware of the hypocrisy of Naidu totally discarded the ‘Mahakutami’.
Moreover, Naidu is not a politician who will go down so easily. After the humiliating defeat of the alliance, the seasoned politician again resorted to his ‘antique’ idea of a ‘third front’. Moreover, he has tried to project himself as an integral part of the third front and is consistently holding meetings with some of his prospective alliance partners like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and others. He also took part in the United India Rally which was nothing but a gathering of ‘hollow people’ (as depicted by the Swaraj India President, Yogendra Yadav). Besides offering his everything to prop himself up as an important face of the third front, the overture failed to yield any dividend. In fact, even the anti-Modi brigade failed in even creating a ripple.
Naidu’s story serves at least one purpose i.e. it suggests what one should refrain from doing in a healthy democracy. In pursuit of gaining more influence and power, Naidu has even lost what he had and ended up as the rolling stone which gathers no moss. Further, the abject failure of Mahakutami in the assembly elections is an indicator that Naidu has lost even his own electoral base and headed for political oblivion in the upcoming general elections.