For quite some time, Telugu Desam Party and its president, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been trying to project that the YSR Congress party headed by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has surrendered to the Bharatiya Janata Party in an attempt to wriggle out of the CBI cases.
He has also sought to create an impression that the BJP was firing at him by putting the gun on the shoulders of Jagan, because the TDP has been demanding special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
To a large extent, he was successful in planting this theory in the minds of several sections of people, if not all, through his Goebel’s propaganda.
The latest episode of YSRC MLA and Public Accounts Committee chairman Buggana Rajendranath Reddy having a meeting with BJP MLA Akula Satyanarayana at a private hotel in New Delhi came in handy for Naidu to buttress his argument that the YSRC and BJP were hand in glove.
Though Buggana sought to put the records straight, the TDP propaganda continued, seeking to create an impression that the YSRC and BJP would have an understanding in the next elections to defeat the TDP.
This forced the YSRC to go on the defensive. After a lot of brainstorming, the YSRC leadership was compelled to give a statement that the party would not have any tie-up with any party in the next elections and would go it alone.
YSRC official spokesman Botsa Satyanarayana brushed aside the rumours of a possible tie-up with BJP and YSRC. He said it would go solo in the ensuing elections.
“Naidu and his team has been trying hard to make believe that the YSRC is aligning with BJP. We make it clear in categorical terms that we will have no electoral tie-up with BJP or the Congress in the 2019 elections,” he said.
It remains to be seen whether Botsa’s damage control exercise would bring back the confidence of the people.
