|
Assembly poll outcome |
 |
Andhra Pradesh : Hi-tech Naidu grounded
An anti-incumbency groundswell dashed the Telugu Desam Party president, N. Chandrababu Naidu’s hopes of retaining power for a third term in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and swept the Congress led by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy back to the centre stage. Riding on the popular support in all three regions of the State, the Congress won 185 seats on its own and a three-fourths majority of 226 seats in the 294-member Assembly in alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (26), the CPI(M) (9) and the CPI (6).
Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who steered Congress to a stupendous victory in Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, was sworn in as Chief Minister. Reddy is a doctor-turned-politician.
The Congress alliance made inroads into the Telugu Desam bastion - the coastal Andhra region - where it won 102 out of 134 seats. In the Telangana region, the alliance bagged 84 of the 107 seats. So extensive was the sweep by the Congress-led alliance partners that the TDP slumped to its worst electoral performance since it was founded by N.T. Rama Rao. When it last yielded power to the Congress in 1989, the TDP had managed to win 74 seats. It fared poorly even in Hyderabad, which Naidu showcased to the rest of the world, by winning a mere two out of 13 seats.
Chief Minister Naidu put up a brave front, saying he accepted the people’s verdict and that his party would play the role of a constructive Opposition in the state.
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy attributed his party’s victory to the antagonism among farmers, agricultural labourers, women, youth and, above all, government employees who resented Naidu’s policies. Reddy said the “hi-tech governance was full of hype and cosmetic development that did not benefit anyone except the middlemen.”
Meanwhile, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti an ally of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, has threatened to launch an agitation if Congress backtracks on the promise of setting up a separate Telengana state. “We are hopeful that the Congress will fulfill its promise and form a separate Telangana state,” TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao said. TRS, which won 26 assembly seats, said it would not hesitate to launch an agitation if the demand for separate Telangana state was not fulfilled. The TRS tied-up with Congress with the objective of not only defeating Chandrababu Naidu of TDP but also establishing Telangana state.
Observers note that the Chandrababu Naidu Government was voted out because it neglected basic issues relating to electricity, irrigation, unemployment, education, and inadequate social security for farmers and artisans. The character of the verdict makes it clear that much more than an incumbency disadvantage was involved. What Andhra Pradesh experienced was a powerful negative vote against the imbalance between World Bank-led models of economic reform and the imperatives of welfare in a society where deprivation is a non-shining mass reality.
Over the last few years, the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh became weedy and unwieldy, faction-ridden and self-serving. Despite his genius for organisation and getting certain things done, the CEO (as the Chief Minister was called) - the favourite of the corporate world and the media - seemed to have little time for issues revolving round basic needs. For all his perceived political shrewdness, Naidu miscalculated the decision to advance Assembly elections. The Vajpayee factor did not make any difference on the ground.
|
