Naidu wants a 'clean' sweep

With exit polls suggesting that Andhra Pradesh's ruling TDP is in trouble, CM Chandrababu Naidu is determined to make a clean sweep in the crucial second phase of polling on April 26.

With exit polls suggesting that Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is in trouble, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is determined to make a clean sweep in the crucial second phase of polling on Monday.

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Trying desperately to retain power for a third consecutive term, the TDP has stepped up its attacks on the Congress party over Telangana in an attempt to get people's support for its slogan of United Andhra Pradesh.

Leading the campaign, TDP president Naidu is targeting the Congress for its "opportunistic" alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which is seeking a separate state by breaking up "the united state of Telugu speaking people".

At every meeting Naidu is asking people to punish the Congress for attempting to bifurcate a state created after many sacrifices.

Naidu is raking up the emotional issue in the hope of getting solid support of the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions.

Ten districts of south coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions are going to polls April 26. Polling will be held in 21 Lok Sabha constituencies and their 147 assembly segments.

An equal number of constituencies in the entire Telangana region and three districts of north coastal Andhra went to polls in the first phase on Tuesday. Exit polls indicate the TDP-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine was lagging behind the Congress-led alliance.

Of the 192 seats won by TDP-BJP combine (BJP's share was 12 seats) in the 294-member assembly in 1999, 58 had come from Telangana and 31 from the three north coastal districts.

Thus it won 89 seats from the regions went to polls in the first phase. But this time the combine seems to be in big trouble as it is expected to win only 50-60 seats.

Unlike in Telangana, where the TDP faced Congress and its allies, it will be a direct fight between the ruling party and Congress in the second round.

Both BJP and leftist parties have limited presence in the regions.

The Congress has fielded candidates in all 21 Lok Sabha constituencies and 139 assembly segments, leaving aside eight assembly seats for the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India-Marxist.

The TDP is in the fray for 17 Lok Sabha and 137 assembly seats while the BJP is contesting four Lok Sabha and 10 assembly segments.

In 1999, south coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions turned out to be the mainstay of the TDP-BJP alliance. South coastal Andhra accounts for 94 assembly seats while there are 53 in faction-ridden Rayalaseema region.

In 1999, the TDP-BJP had got a whopping 103 seats from the two regions.

The TDP has to repeat its performance to stay in power. However, political analysts say it won't be easy for Naidu to make clean sweep considering that the main issues in Telangana and the rest of the state are common.

The anti-incumbency factor, crisis in agriculture due to four years of drought, shortage of electricity and farmers' problems are dominant in both Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, barring parts of East Godavari and West Godavari districts.

Also, unlike the 1969-71 Telangana agitation when 'settlers' from Andhra region were targeted, the movement launched by TRS this time is peaceful.

So this has not helped the TDP to get the kind of support it was expecting for itself in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema by playing the emotive issue of Andhra Pradesh's break up.

But it still hopes that a backlash against the Congress could help it to do well in the crucial phase.

A worried Naidu, the longest serving chief minister in the state's history, is on a whirlwind tour of the coastal districts and Rayalaseema region including his home district Chittoor.

He is using helicopters to hop from one place to another and is not likely to return to the state capital before the second phase gets over.

The TDP has directed all its ministers and top leaders from other regions to launch an aggressive campaigning for a clean sweep.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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