It is an open secret that the Telugu Desam Party in Telangana has become defunct for all practical purposes.
The defection of its Telangana unit president L Ramana to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Monday has completely sealed the party fate in the state.
Yet, TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is desperate to keep the party alive in Telangana, despite knowing that there are absolutely no chances of the party winning any seats even in the local body elections, forget about the assembly elections.
For the last two days, Naidu has been holding hectic confabulations with the party leaders to appoint a new president for the Telangana TDP.
Though not many leaders are left in the party, he is giving an impression that he is doing hectic exercise to find a replacement for Ramana.
As if there is a stiff competition for the Telangana TDP chief post, Naidu’s media team has been leaking reports that he is taking into consideration various aspects such as caste equations, popularity, seniority and loyalty to appoint the new president.
According to these reports, Naidu prefers senior leaders like Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy and Kothakota Dayakar Reddy for the Telangana TDP chief post.
But both of them are said to be disinterested in the post, as they know well that it is just ornamental.
There are reports that Naidu is also considering the name of Aravind Kumar Goud, a senior Backward Class leader.
The TDP sources said Naidu is of the view that appointment of a BC leader as the party president will help the party in the Huzurabad by-elections.
The TDP sources also say Ravula suggested that Naidu appoint a young and dynamic leader as the T-TDP president, if the party has to put up a tough fight against the TRS, since Congress and the newly-formed YSR Telangana party are headed by relatively young leaders like Revanth Reddy and Sharmila.
But the fact of the matter is that whoever is appointed as the Telangana TDP chief, the chances of the TDP regaining its glory in Telangana are very bleak.
Yet, Naidu wants to create an impression that the party is still a force to reckon with in Telangana!
