Will TDP lose 'main opposition' tag?

HYDERABAD: The TDP office remained as empty as its tally in the byelections, the results of which were declared on Friday afternoon. The deserted NTR Trust Bhavan was a direct pointer to the party's rapid decline in state politics. So much so that the party is now reduced to a small regional outfit and could soon lose out the main opposition party tag to Jagan's YSR Congress, which is fast climbing up the poll charts.
"The writing is clear on the wall. If the party leadership does not set its house in order urgently, it could face further rejection from the voter who is distancing himself away from the party. Also, the 'Jagan corruption issue' has hurt the party badly," said senior leader Talasani Srinivas Yadav. Leave alone Telangana and Rayalaseema regions where it fared poorly, the party's performance in its Kamma-dominant coastal Andhra region left a lot to be desired. For instance, in Prathipadu, where the party was expected to do well, its candidate lost the race to YSR CP's Sucharita. Similarly, in Macherla, its corruption plank cut little ice with the voters who elected YSR CP's Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy.
However, putting up a brave front, party MLA Revanth Reddy said that by the 2014 elections, the party would galvanize its ranks. "There are no second prizes in elections. We lost the race," he said. He, however, takes pride in claiming that YSR CP's voting percentage of 63 in Kadapa has come down to 35% now. Though the party came second in 10 of the 18 seats it contested, there was nothing to gloat about on its overall show. "The TDP is sinking. It is not even in a position to cash in on the anti-establishment wave and instead has ceded the ground to Jagan's party. The leadership does not seem to come to terms with the popular public mood," points out senior analyst Ganta Chakrapani.
Shockingly, TDP leaders continue to attribute the YSR CP's resounding victory to the sympathy factor. "We have nothing to lose or gain in these elections. The 2014 elections are our ultimate goal," claims Motkupalli Narasimhulu, party MLA from Telangana, where the party is almost blanked out by the electorate.
Another significant factor which the TDP is ignoring conveniently is the margin of victory for the YSR CP candidates. For example, Golla Babu Rao, who won the Payakaraopet seat in 2009 by a whisker 656 votes, defeated his TDP rival Chengala Venkat Rao by 14,362 votes now. Srikanth Reddy secured the highest victory margin of 56,891 votes in Rayachoti this time against his TDP rival as against the 12,000-vote majority he got in 2009. What could be more worrying for the party is losing in Rayadurg and Yemmiganur with huge margins of more than 25,000 votes.
In fact, as a major political party, the TDP has been losing successive bypolls in Telangana and never won a general election after 1999. An insider said that the immediate concern for the party leadership should be to retain its flock and stop poaching of its MLAs from jumping over to the Jagan camp. On the other hand, party MLA from Rayalaseema, Payyavula Keshav said that it's too early to press the panic button. "It's a temporary setback and we would overcome it by reworking our strategies," he said.
M V Mysura Reddy, who recently crossed over to the Jagan camp, said that the TDP committed a political suicide by joining hands with the Congress. While the party rank and file is down and out, a big question mark hangs over the future of the party with Naidu at the helm. "By constantly targeting YSR and Jagan as corrupt leaders, Naidu has failed to read the pulse of the people," CPI (ML) New Democracy leader P Sandhya, a staunch critic of YSR CP, said.
Leave alone Telangana and Rayalaseema regions where it fared poorly, the party's performance in its Kamma-dominant coastal Andhra region left a lot to be desired. For instance, in Prathipadu, where the party was expected to do well, its candidate lost the race to YSR CP's Sucharita. Similarly, in Macherla, its corruption plank cut little ice with the voters who elected YSR CP's Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy