Till the other day, Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu was giving the impression to the party leaders in Telangana that the TDP would contest the by-elections in Munugode assembly seat.
Though the Telangana TDP leaders are aware that the party contesting the seat hardly made any impact on the outcome of the by-elections, Naidu reportedly told them that the TDP would at least make its presence felt in Munugode.
However, the TDP chief changed his mind at the last moment, apparently under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The reason is that the by-election to Munugode will be a tightly-fought battle and all the three parties – BJP, TRS and Congress have high stakes.
No party is willing to risk foregoing even a single vote. Particularly for the BJP, it is a high stakes battle and it is making all out efforts to mobilise support from even small-time players.
That is why, the BJP is learnt to have sent a message to Naidu to drop his plan to field the TDP candidate in the by-elections.
Though the TDP is not a big force there, it has a small percentage of votes and if the party supports the BJP, the latter can gain some advantage.
Secondly, the BJP is also seeking the TDP support in the next assembly elections in Telangana as a quid pro quo measure for extending support to Naidu in Andhra Pradesh assembly elections in 2024.
An unofficial understanding to this effect was allegedly reached between the two parties after Union home minister Amit Shah came down to Ramoji Film City to meet media baron Ch Ramoji Rao on August 21.
So, there is no point in contesting Munugode by-election now and it will definitely send a positive message to the BJP, which might extend a friendly hand to the TDP in the next Andhra Pradesh elections!
