It seems that the Telugu Desam Party, led by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, is systematically exerting dominance over its two alliance partners – the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party – in the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh.
In several instances, TDP leaders who were unable to secure party tickets for various reasons are being directed towards the Jana Sena Party and the BJP to contest the elections.
Naidu appears to be exploiting the lack of strong candidates in these two parties by sending his own party leaders to secure tickets.
A notable example is Nallamilli Ramakrishna Reddy, who was initially given the TDP ticket for the Anaparthi assembly seat in East Godavari district. However, Naidu was compelled to allocate the seat to the BJP as part of the alliance agreement.
Despite attempting to negotiate with the BJP for an alternate seat in exchange for Anaparthi, Naidu was unsuccessful, as winning Anaparthi is crucial for securing the Rajahmundry Lok Sabha seat, contested by BJP state president Daggubati Purandeshwari.
Facing the threat of Ramakrishna Reddy contesting as an independent, Naidu astutely compelled him to join the BJP and secure the party ticket from Anaparthi. Thus, technically, Ramakrishna Reddy will be the BJP candidate, but his allegiance will remain with the TDP.
Naidu employed a similar tactic with the Jana Sena Party. Leaders like Mandali Buddha Prasad from Avanigadda, Ramanjaneyulu from Bhimavaram, Arava Sridhar from Railway Koduru, and Nimmaka Jayakrishna from Palakonda were originally TDP leaders.
As they were unable to secure TDP tickets for various reasons, Naidu facilitated their defection to the Jana Sena Party to secure tickets. Notably, BJP leaders like Purandeshwari, Sujana Chowdary, and C M Ramesh also have past associations with the TDP.
Senior BJP leaders are expressing frustration at the manner in which the TDP chief is exerting influence over the BJP and the Jana Sena Party.
"The BJP leadership has failed to address this issue. If candidate selection continues to be neglected, the BJP's presence in the state may be jeopardized," remarked senior BJP leader and former chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao.
