Going South

The jostle for political power in Andhra Pradesh has worsened the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) standing in the state and has exposed the Narendra Modi government’s feet of clay. The Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), one of the oldest and largest allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), was forced to break away from the BJP when it failed to secure a Special Category Status (SCS) from its ally at the centre. For its failure to secure SCS for the state, the Naidu government now faces a significant political challenge from opposition leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and film-star-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, who supported Naidu and the BJP in the 2014 elections.

Naidu’s main challenger, Jagan Reddy, launched a padayatra in early November 2017 on the lines of similar rallies by his ­father, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR). Such mobilisation resulted in Naidu losing office in the 2004 elections, a loss from which he did not recover for a decade. The political drama playing out in Andhra Pradesh was also reflected in the developments during the recently concluded Parliament session where Jagan Reddy’s party, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), moved the first motion of no confidence against the Modi government. This forced Naidu to follow with a similar motion against the government. Neither came up for discussion.