YSRC making inroads in Seemandhra
In a recent meeting of some bigwigs of the TDP, it was decided that the Congress has lost its pre-eminence and the Desham's rival No. 1 is YSRC. The party also believes that if the Congress does not take some drastic action (kill rather than hurt) against the fledgling party, it will end up at the third place at the next General Elections.
Political parties' major discussions in meetings are obviously their main rivals. And, if a main rival loses ground, it is not the party that comes to know of it first, it would be its rival. Watching the opponent camp is an essential strategy of electoral war.
The TDP honchos' conclusion is drawn from the fact that despite the Congress's good show in the co-operative elections, a General Election is a different cake.
The YSRC's strength is rooted in sentiment and sentiment defies reason. 'If Jagan crosses 80 seats, he is going to bargain for the chief minister's post,' a TDP leader, who is also a businessman, told his colleagues. His sources tell him that the Congress is honeymooning privately with the YSRC while denouncing it in public.
The latest reading, however, is that the YSRC will not merge with the Congress. Rather, it will be a regional party which, these days, enjoys more powers than national parties.
'Small is beautiful,' is the slogan in India's highly fractured political terra firma today. Look how five- to six-member parties, like MIM, get more than their due while big parties suffer.
Look, again, at AIADMK, JDU or any regional party, and it becomes clear that it is the age of the small parties, which can effectively arm-twist big brothers.
However, the YSRC's strength lies not just in YSR sentiment; it is rooted also in the Christian convert vote bank which forms a sizeable voting population in the coastal Andhra belt.
In 2009 elections too, YSR swept the Christian belt. But the YSRC is still very weak in Telangana and other parts of Seemandhra, though it is the undisputed leader in Rayalaseema.
In these areas, the YSRC hopes to go for a strategic tie-up at the micro level. Its secret strength is the long line of beneficiaries during YSR's regime, who want a YSR heir to protect their new-found wealth.
Both the bigwigs, the Congress and the TDP, are bound to suffer in the event of the YSRC making an uninterrupted march. While the Congress has its assured grassroots support to fall back on, the TDP lacks even that.
Hence, the Desham leaders are privately frowning at Chandrababu Naidu and his efforts to make Lokesh do an Akhilesh, point out political observers.
News Posted: 13 March, 2013
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