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Electioneering is getting hotter than the weather in the Telugu state of Andhra Pradesh.

News Arena India Editor-in-Chief Naveen S Garewal caught up with Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, National Election Coordinator of TDP, to understand the new political dynamics, markedly different from 2019. 

 

The issues range from a bitter fight between the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief and Chief Minister YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister Sharmila, who is the AP Congress President. In this slug match between the siblings, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), under the leadership of N. Chandrababu Naidu, is eyeing a comeback after a change in its political ideology after joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

 

It now has two allies, the BJP and Pawan Kalyan led Jana Sena Party (JJP).

 

News Arena India Editor-in-Chief Naveen S Garewal caught up with Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar, National Election Coordinator of TDP, to understand the new political dynamics, markedly different from 2019. 

 

Kumar says the priority for the TDP has changed from wrestling power to saving Andhra Pradesh from ever-increasing crime, corruption, and economic debt in the YSR Congress Party-led state.

 

A collaborative attempt to save the state is, therefore, imperative before anything else. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

 

NAI: In 2019, the TDP parted ways with the NDA over the centres' failure to fulfil the demand for a special status for Andhra Pradesh. In 2024, the TDP returned to the NDA and entered into a seat-sharing agreement for the Parliamentary and assembly elections.

 

KRK: Due to the misrule and poor administration of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government, the state has fallen into a debt trap. There is rising corruption and scams in the state, and the law and order situation has worsened. All political leaders, including TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, have been arrested in false cases. It has become important to safeguard the existence and interests of Andhra Pradesh by getting rid of Jagan Mohan Reddy.

 

NAI: The people have seen N. Chandrababu Naidu head the Mahakutami (grand alliance) with anti-BJP parties, asking all to unite to rid the nation of Narendra Modi. Now, your party is seeking votes as part of the NDA that has Modi are the most prominent leader. How are you facing the people with this changed stand?

 

KRK: Given the situation on the ground, the party's priorities have changed now. Andhra Pradesh is quickly moving towards becoming a failed state. For the sake of the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh, we have entered into an alliance that will ensure that the people’s anger against the current government is not divided into fragmen vote share.

 

NAI: Andhra is witnessing a similar situation for which your ally, the BJP, has criticised the INDIA block for alternating between turning friends or foes. At the state level, you are aligned with the BJP to get rid of YSRCP. But at the national level the YSRCP supports the NDA. What do you have to say about the dichotomy of changing sides for political gains?

 

KRK: The TDP is supporting the BJP to protect the interest of the people of Andhra Pradesh. For us, the development of the state is the main concern. National projects like Polavaram still need to be completed; the question of Amravati as the state capital has been abandoned by the YSRCP, and the economy is in ruins. The TDP feels that it is the BJP that will form the next government at the centre under the BJP. Andhra’s best interest is to be part of the NDA. This is not for any personal gains but in the interest of the state.

 

NAI: Your political opponents accuse the TDP of playing into the hands of the BJP, which has a tiny vote bank in the state. With this alliance, they will gain, but the TDP does not benefit in any way. It is a one-sided advantage where the BJP gains irrespective of the TDP or the YSRCP winning to support it in Parliament.

 

KRK: What you are saying may come true. We at the TDP are assuming that the NDA is coming to power. At the cost of repetition, I would like to reiterate that Andhra desperately needs the support of the central government for survival. There is no other way that the state can come out of the debt trap, and for this, the party is willing to support anyone who, in turn, will support the state. For your information, the YSRCP officially acknowledges a debt of ₹ 4.28 lakh crore, but in reality, it is 30 lakh crore from ₹ 2 lakh crore in 2019. The financial status of the state is so bad that the central government schemes have not been implemented in Andhra Pradesh because the state government could not provide any matching grant. Even the central funds received for specific purposes have been diverted. It isn't easy today for the state to pay salaries and pensions.

 

NAI: In 2019, the YSRCP came to power on a poll plank of fighting for a special status for Andhra Pradesh for being put at a disadvantage after the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and the creation of Telangana in 2014. By joining hands with the BJP, a party that did not accede to the demand of a special status to AP, how will your party get the special status?

 

KRK: Jagan Mohan Reddy has yet to make any effort to get the special status. He visited Delhi over 30 times in the last five years and went back after presenting a bouquet and getting himself photographed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah; not once did he make any representation or write a letter to the centre for the implementation of special status for AP. The only request the AP CM made to the centre was that he should not be arrested. TDP quit the NDA because NDA-1 was not fulfilling its promise, but we joined the NDA following an assurance that NDA-3 would grant AP special status.

 

NAI: What is the focus of the TDP since both the assembly and the Lok Sabha election are taking place at the same time?

 

KRK: The TDP is clear; it is concentrating on coming back to power in the state to set things in order and win most of the 25 Parliamentary seats to support the BJP-led NDA government so that we can seek developmental funds from the centre. There are 25 Parliamentary seats in the state and 175 state assembly seats. The division for these elections is that for the state assembly, TDP will contest 144 seats, JSP 21, and BJP will contest 10 seats. In the Lok Sabha elections, TDP will contest 17, JSP 2 and BJP 6. All three parties will contest the election in alliance.

 

NAI:  What makes you so confident that the TDP will come back to power when the YSRCP and the Congress parties are in the contest? 

 

KRK: The TDP has given out a six-point manifesto that has something for every strata of society. We call it "a new vision for Andhra Pradesh With Super Six guarantees." These six guarantees will reach every doorstep. The promises include the creation of 20 lakh and an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 till the youth gets a job. "Under the Thalliki Vandanam scheme, TDP will provide Rs. 15,000 per year to every school-going child. 

 

Under the Annadata scheme, farmers will be offered Rs 20,000 annually. The Deepam scheme would give every household three free gas cylinders per year. Under the Aadabidda Nidhi scheme, women between 18 to 59 would get Rs. 1500 per month, besides free travel for women in RTC buses and purified drinking water. All this will be done in the first 100 days of the TDP government.

 

The details of the above are listed under heads in Telugu, namely welfare and empowerment of women (Mahasakthi), creating jobs for the youth, giving a subsidy of ₹10 lakhs on the cost of projects undertaken by MSMEs and start-up companies (Sowbhagya Padham), measures for solving the issues faced by farmers (Annadaata), supplying drinking water to every household, uplifting and protecting the Backward Classes, achieving inclusive economic growth (Sampanna Andhra Pradesh), alleviating poverty, developing Amaravati as the capital city, supplying free sand, and measures to ensure labour welfare.

 

 

NAI: Don’t these schemes attempt to bribe the people to vote for the TDP, especially at a time when you say the state is already in a dire financial situation?

 

KRK: These are welfare schemes and the rights of the people. They were deprived of their basic rights after 2019, and all the state's money was pilfered through organised contractor-based corruption. We are committed to initiating an inquiry into the corruption of the YSRCP leaders and restitution of misappropriated funds with interest to the state so that this can be used for the welfare of the people.