TD struggles in North Andhra

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Mar 12, 2013: North Andhra Pradesh was once a strong bastion of the Telugu Desam, ever since the creation of the party by N.T. Rama Rao.

But if the recent spate of incidents are anything to go by, the party seems to be losing its hold in the three districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh. It almost swept the polls in the three districts during the 1983 to 1999 polls, but the party started seeing a downward trend in the 2004 polls. In the 2009 elections, it had won a meager 7 Assembly segments of the total 34 Assembly constituencies spread across the three districts. While there are around 15 Assembly segments in Vizag, TD could win only 4  out of 9. 

 

In Vizanagaram, the party bagged only 2 and it could win only one constituency out of 10 in Srikakulam. Last year’s sudden and untimely demise of senior leader K. Yerrannaidu, was a major blow to the party in Srikakulam. In the same  district, the lone MLA from Ichapuram Sai Raj shifted his loyalties to  the new regional force, YSRC this year, reducing the party tally to zero. Part of the problem is that the party does not have a leader of the stature of Yerrannaidu.

 

In Viziangaram, except P. Ashokgajapathi Raju, there are no towering  leaders to restore the party’s lost glory.

 

In Vizag, though the party has only 4 MLAs, leaders and activists are divided into too many factions both in rural and urban units. The party is now divided into two groups in the district. A group loyal to party politburo member Ayyana Patrudu and another owing allegiance to his arch rival, party state vice president Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy. 

 

Though the tussle between these two leaders was said to be resolved on record, both the leaders are apparently not ready to see eye-to-eye. Another senior leader, Dadi Veerabhadhra Rao’s open outburst against party supremo, N Chandrababu Naidu, had paved the way for a fresh crisis in rural tracts of the district.

 

“I think there are no hopes of reviving the party in north Andhra   Pradesh. Last year defeat haunted us in the form of PR, which divided our vote bank, and this time YSRC is likely to play the same role in the 2014 polls. Unless Naidu carries a magic wand when his Vasthunna  Meekosam padayatra enters here, TD will not rise as it is a divided house in this region,” lamented a TD senior leader from Vizag.