Normally, if there is a split in the vote bank of the ruling party, it is the major opposition party that gets the benefit. But in the case of Andhra Pradesh, the situation is completely different.

Despite the pathetic condition of the Congress party with the exodus of 18 MLAs into the YSR Congress party and many others are waiting for an opportunity to jump the fence, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party is not able to cash in on the situation.

The advantage of the Congress party’s inability has gone to the fledgling YSR Congress party, rather than the TDP. What is worse, the TDP is also losing its vote bank and the cadres to the YSR Congress.

So, what has gone wrong with the TDP? The fault is not with the party but with its leader N Chandrababu Naidu. According to analyst who participated in the television channel debate on Wednesday morning, Naidu should have focused on the failures of the government and fighting on the people’s issues. Instead of doing that, he focused his attention on attacking YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his corruption.

That has created an impression that he has colluded with the Congress in attacking Jagan.

“Decimating Jagan is the headache of the Congress party. But Naidu took it up on his shoulders and harped only on Jagan’s corruption. On the other hand, Jagan focused on the people’s issues and the lack of implementation of the schemes introduced by his father. That went down well with the people than his corruption. And added to it is the sympathy factor which Jagan has capitalized to the hilt. That made all the difference,” the analyst said.