The outcome of the latest by-elections to Pulivendula and Vontimitta Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency seats has clearly indicated the changing political dynamics in the state – from healthy politics to revenge politics.
Three decades ago, the political contest in Andhra Pradesh was intense, but was more or less healthy.
TDP president N Chandrababu who represented Kuppam assembly constituency and Congress leader Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who was representing Pulivendula never interfered in each other’s bastion.
YSR never meddled with electioneering in Kuppam, though the Congress candidate would be there for the sake of contest. Even when YSR became the chief minister, he never laid any special focus on Kuppam with an intention to decimate Naidu politically.
Similarly, Chandrababu Naidu never interfered in Pulivendula. He used to field a TDP candidate in Pulivendula just for the sake of contest, but he never went all out to defeat YSR, because he was aware of the support YSR enjoyed in his constituency.
So, in Kuppam and Pulivendula, it was a healthy political battle between the two parties. Back then, there wasn’t the intense caste-based political polarization that we see today — though many believed TDP was a “Kamma party” and Congress was a “Reddy party.”
Both YSR and Naidu were political rivals but never behaved like enemies. If Chandrababu personally requested anything, YSR would do it and vice versa, when they were in power. Politics was not about vengeance or vendetta.
Now, times have changed. In YSR’s place now stands Jagan, who is the only supremo in the party. After coming to power with a massive mandate in 2019, his only objective was to see the political end of Naidu, if not the TDP.
So, in 2021 local body elections, Jagan entered Kuppam and almost wiped out the TDP using brute police and political force.
His next target was to defeat Naidu in Kuppam in the assembly elections and that is why, he announced his “Why Not 175” mission. In the assembly, Chandrababu Naidu faced abusive language, mockery, and humiliation.
Now, times have changed even in the TDP. It is no longer Chandrababu Naidu’s era, but it’s Lokesh’s era. And Lokesh is not the same as before; he is aggressive, unlike his father.
Though it is not Naidu’s type of politics to take revenge, Lokesh would not listen to him and the chance in Pulivendula came in the form of the ZPTC by-election.
Normally, such an election wouldn’t even matter. But TDP decided to showcase its strength — just as Jagan replaced YSR, Lokesh was now stepping into Chandrababu’s shoes. Those in power used every means at their disposal.
What happened? TDP secured 90% of the vote, YSRCP just 10%. How was such a crushing defeat possible in YSR’s stronghold? Even TDP leaders themselves might not believe this result.
In reality, if the election had been conducted fairly, the result would have been different. At one point, YSRCP completely gave up. Even the YSRCP candidate didn’t cast his own vote.
In a local body election, if the ruling party is determined, the outcome can be entirely one-sided — and TDP demonstrated this to society. Even Jagan may not have anticipated the scale of this blow from the TDP camp.
Caste politics in Andhra Pradesh have already become deeply toxic; vendetta-driven politics are now in full play. In the coming days, politics here may sink to even lower levels.
This election result is neither a sign of public approval for Chandrababu’s alliance nor an indication of growing public anger against Jagan. The nature of this election was different.
