Is Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu deliberately destroying his party in the Telangana State?
The answer appears to be yes, if the hush talk going on within the party is any indication.
According to party sources, a powerful caste lobby from the mid-coastal Andhra region is learnt to have advised Naidu to scale down the TDP in Telangana, if not winding it up completely.
It was the same lobby which had brought about a patch-up between Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, which resulted in diluting the cash-for-note and telephone tapping cases.
The reason is simple: this community has extensive business interests in and around Hyderabad and also industrial interests in different parts of Telangana. To sustain its interests, it has to have the support of the ruling TRS.
If the TDP tries to emerge as an alternative political force, the community will have to suffer a lot and face losses running into crores of rupees.
In the last 18 months, this community has benefitted a lot from the TRS whether in terms of expansion of their real estate activity, IT sector, industries and infrastructure projects. Even the powerful media houses are toeing the line of the TRS and KCR.
The community leaders are reasoning that in any case, the TDP has absolutely no chances of coming to power in Telangana forever because of the Andhra-based leadership.
In the next elections, it might not win even a couple of MLA seats. So, this caste lobby has suggested to Naidu to allow the party to disintegrate on its own with the MLAs leaving the party to join the TRS.
For the outside world, Naidu has to put up a brave front stating that the party will have a bright future in Telangana, but in reality, he has realised that the business interests of his community are paramount, compared to its political survival in Telangana!
