Party hoppers continue to have a field day in Telugu states
It’s election time and a season of defections with netas hopping from one party to the other in the hope of getting tickets to contest the polls. If they are political heavyweights they switch loyalties with pre-conditions. Then there are those who are cross over to vent their anger over being denied tickets.
Both Telugu states are witnessing defections but in varying degree due to contrasting political scenarios.
Big demand in AP
The situation in Andhra Pradesh is interesting as the defectors appear to be in big demand. Ruling TDP and main opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), the main contenders for power, are attracting turncoats every day. Some TDP MPs and MLAs are among those who have crossed over to YSRCP during past few weeks after being assured of tickets. TDP, which lured nearly two dozen YSRCP MLAs to its camp after the 2014 elections, has lost some key leaders in recent times.
Leaders from the ruling party and other groups, businessmen and actors fly down to Hyderabad to meet YSRCP leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who welcomes them with party scarves and pose for photographs. This has been happening on almost a daily basis and the opposition party says this shows which way the wind is blowing.
However, the ruling party attributes desertions to presence of large number of aspirants for party tickets and the party president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu deciding to field only the winning horses.
Congress at receiving end
With the Congress in total disarray after the crushing defeat of 2014, when it drew blanks both in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, YSR Congress is the only alternative for disgruntled TDP leaders. In fact, the Congress remained at the receiving end, losing some bigwigs to both TDP and YSRCP. Barring few leaders from various parties, actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party has not been able to get big names.
BJP, which remained a fringe player in the state politics, will be under pressure to retain the four Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats it won in 2014 with TDP. So far, it also failed to attract leaders.
The prominent among those who quit the Congress and joined TDP were former union minister and five-time Lok Sabha MP V Kishore Chandra Deo. TDP is likely to field him from Araku Lok Sabha constituency.
Similarly, Kurnool strongman and former union minister of state Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy joined the TDP. The Congress leader and son of former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, Surya Prakash switched the loyalty after being assured of ticket to contest Kurnool Lok Sabha seat. TDP also promised to reward his wife and son with suitable positions.
While attracting these veterans from the Congress, TDP lost three sitting MPs to YSRCP. Thota Narasimhan, who was elected from Kakinada Lok Sabha seat in 2014, joined YSRCP along with his wife Thota Vani after Chandrababu Naidu refused to give her an Assembly ticket.
Earlier, Anakapalle Lok Sabha member M Srinivasa Rao, also known as Avanthi Srinivas, and Amalapuram Lok Sabha member Pandula Ravindra Babu switched loyalties to YSRCP, reportedly after it became clear that the TDP will not field them again.
Besides the three MPs, TDP has also lost half a dozen MLAs to YSRCP. Even after his candidature was announced by TDP from Nellore Rural constituency, Adala Prabhakar Reddy disappeared during the campaigning and went incommunicado amid reports that he is planning to join YSRCP to contest for Nellore Lok Sabha ticket.
Interesting case
There are also some interesting cases like that of Kurnool MP Butta Renuka. After her election as YSRCP candidate in 2014, she had crossed over to TDP. Now that TDP has committed Kurnool ticket to Surya Prakash Reddy, she is scouting for a party to secure her political future. She is said to be contemplating a return to YSRCP.
Kothapalli Geetha, who was elected from Araku Lok Sabha constituency in 2014, switched loyalties to TDP in 2018. With Kishore Chandra Deo’s entry marring her prospects of getting TDP ticket, she floated a new party called Jana Jagruthi Party to contest the polls.
Coming to Jana Sena, despite the star appeal, it failed to attract bigwigs. Former Assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar was one of the few leaders who decided to sail with Pawan Kalyan. After losing 2014 elections and resigning from the Congress, he chose Jana Sena. Ravela Kishore Babu, who was dropped by Naidu from the cabinet in 2017, quit TDP to join Jana Sena.
While defections are common before elections, they don’t guarantee success of any party. Analysts point out that Kalyan’s elder brother and superstar Chiranjeevi also attracted key leaders when he floated Praja Rajyam Party in 2008 but it came a cropper in the elections held next year.
Neighbouring state
In Telangana, the defections are one-sided as ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is attracting a Congress MLA almost every day and appears on course to make a clean sweep in next month’s Lok Sabha polls.
Seven Congress MLAs have crossed over to TRS since March 2 and only one of them, Sabitha Indra Reddy, a former minister, switched the loyalty after extracting an assurance from KCR that her son will be given a Lok Sabha ticket.
All other MLAs were lured by TRS to deal a blow to the Congress before the elections and bolster the confidence of its cadre to go for a kill by bagging 16 seats, leaving Hyderabad for its ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
One of the two Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLAs also defected to TRS. However, other than this there has been no defection of any key leader as the ruling party is already jam-packed with leaders from an influx of both Congress and TDP leaders over the past five years.
