Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu might have been the first chief minister to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the thumping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly elections, but heart-in-hearts, he is said to be very much worried.
Naidu and his think tank are understood to have analysed the election results in five states and came to the conclusion that the outcome is not a good sign for the TDP.
First, there is a clear indication of strong anti-incumbency wave in all the five states. More than the people’s support for Modi, it was the anti-incumbency factor that worked in UP as the people were not happy with the Samajwadi Party regime.
Same is the case with Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa. In Manipur, too, there was anti-incumbency wave, but it was not so strong but it had reduced the number of seats of the Congress to a large extent and it ultimately lost power to the BJP.
So, a similar anti-incumbency factor would definitely work in Andhra Pradesh, too, unless Naidu steps up his government’s performance and Jagan miserably fails as the opposition leader.
Secondly, the strengthening of the BJP at the Centre and in the north does not augur well for the TDP, as it may start ignoring its NDA allies.
Already, the TDP suffered a lot due to denial of special category status to AP and dodging of cabinet approval to the special package.
The Centre is also not releasing enough funds to the capital and grossly ignored the demand for a railway zone in Visakhapatnam.
The funds for Polavaram are also not coming in adequately, putting pressure on Naidu. Following the election results, the BJP would completely sideline the TDP and try to strengthen itself in AP. This will prove negative for the TDP in the 2019 elections.
