What’s behind Telangana parties’ new-found sympathy for Chandrababu Naidu?

Three days back, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha expressed sympathy for Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu over his arrest. Ironically, Naidu is considered an enemy of Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership.

Naidu was arrested on September 9 in Andhra Pradesh in an alleged scam worth ₹3,300 crore related to the Skill Development Programme implemented when he was chief minister. Till his release on bail on October 31 on health grounds, he was lodged in the Rajahmundry Central Jail.

Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao too felt it was unfair to arrest Naidu at the age of 73. State Municipal Administration and IT Minister KT Rama Rao also expressed anguish over the arrest of Naidu. Going a step ahead, Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy called the arrest a political vendetta.

Legislative Council Chairman Guth Sukhender Reddy also condemned the arrest. Many ministers, MLAs, and BRS leaders followed suit.

After the formation of Telangana state, members of Kamma, Naidu’s caste, who have been the core base of the TDP, have reconciled to the new Telangana political reality minus the TDP. As the results of previous elections indicate, they gravitated to BRS.

Kamma identity

As Naidu’s arrest is seen as an assault on Kamma pride by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the BRS, considered a friendly party of the Andhra chief minister, fears some disturbance in the arrangement.

Not to lag behind, BJP state president G Kishan Reddy and BJP national general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar were equally vocal in condemning the arrest.

The Congress has been more strident in condemning the arrest. PCC president A Revanth Reddy is not only critical of the arrest, but he also slammed IT minister KT Rama Rao for banning peaceful protests by Naidu’s fans.

The Congress’ theory is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR, who have grouse against Naidu, supported Jagan to arrest the TDP president.

“KCR sees Naidu as an enemy since the days of the Telugu Desam Party. Modi doesn’t like Naidu because he had aligned with the Congress against NDA in the 2019 elections,” former Congress MP Madhu Yaski said.

In fact, Naidu has little association with Telangana. Though he has a permanent residence in Hyderabad, he severed all political connections with the state after 2014. His short stay as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad (when it was the joint capital) was marred by quarrels with KCR which led to shifting the capital to Amaravati abruptly in 2015.

New-found concern for Naidu

When Naidu tried to resurface in the 2018 elections by aligning with the Congress, KCR unleashed anti-Andhra sentiment to frustrate his attempts. As a result, the party diminished to two MLAs, who later jumped to BRS. Naidu has become a long-forgotten chapter there onwards.

Now, Naidu is being spoken about everywhere in Telangana. The state’s political parties feel it obligatory to talk sympathetically about Naidu’s confinement in jail.

Why are Telangana’s political parties suddenly voicing sympathy for a political leader from a neighboring state?

Professor E Venkateshu of the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) says the Telangana parties seem to have realised that Naidu’s arrest has the potential to influence the outcome of elections in several constituencies.

“Naidu’s fans believe that KCR is a friend of Jagan Reddy and the former's arrest was not possible without his silent support. This has enraged the fans who held protest marches in Hyderabad. In the eagerness to blunt the anger, the BRS and BJP were quick to condemn Naidu’s arrest,” he said.

Calculations of BRS, BJP

In his view, the BRS is more worried than other parties.

“The voting pattern of the Greater Municipal Corporation Elections held in 2020 shows that settlers favored BRS in the absence of TDP. BRS had swept the divisions where settlers were concentrated while BJP won only where locals were more in number. The BRS doesn’t want Naidu’s arrest to upset this pattern. Hence the sudden burst of sympathy from ministers, MLAs, and MPs from BRS,” he said.

Similarly, the BJP has its own calculations. “The BJP has tried to counter Naidu’s fans’ anger in two ways. One, by striking a deal with Pawan Kalyan of Jana Sena, who is a friend of Naidu, and two, though belatedly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah agreed to grant audience to Nara Lokesh, son of Naidu in Delhi. Both are aimed at diluting the perception that Centre gave a nod to Naidu’s arrest,” he said.

But Congress circles are upbeat and view Naidu’s decision not to enter the fray in Telangana as a step that would prevent the split of anti-BRS and anti-BJP votes. The Congress is expecting to benefit from Kamma caste votes and fans of Naidu.

“The message of the hugely successful Gratitude Concert held on Sunday in Hyderabad by Naidu’s IT fans to celebrate 25 years of Cyber Tower, built by Naidu is loud and clear - 'Defeat the enemies of Naidu'. It is a call to defeat BJP and its B teams,” said a participant.

Diminishing influence

Some analysts differ with this view. They argue that Naidu doesn’t have any significance -- individually, ideologically or party-wise -- in Telangana.

“Naidu surely has a symbolic importance as a pro-IT figure. The reinvocation of this feature in Hyderabad and other cities mainly by Kammas is expected to help his party in Andhra Pradesh. It has no relevance in Telangana Politics,” said Professor K Srinivasulu, senior fellow at the Indian Council for Social Science Research in New Delhi.

Talking about the sympathetic statements, especially from BRS, he said: “They are meant to neutralise any negativity from the Kammas and allied castes who electorally constitute an influential factor in some constituencies lest they turn hostile.”