Chandrababu Naidu’s phenomenal comeback journey from defeat and arrest to scripting TDP’s major victory in Andhra Pradesh assembly elections
Chandrababu Naidu’s comeback journey from defeat and then arrest to a thumping win in the Lok Sabha and State legislative election is more akin to the proverbial Phoenix which always arose from the ashes to become even more powerful than before.
Only eight months ago things for Telugu Desam and the two time Chief Minister looked very bleak when the 74 year old thespian was jailed in a corruption case it seemed that it was the end of his political career. However, Chandrababu Naidu has scripted a remarkable comeback.
At that time YSR Congress Party and Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was riding high on a wave of popularity due to his welfare schemes, and seemed to be almost invincible. However Naidu, his son Lokesh and wife Bhuvaneswari scripted a remarkable comeback and he was ably helped in a large measure by action hero Pawan Kalyan who declared that he and the Jana Sena would fight the elections with Chandrababu Naidu and defeat Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP.
The relationship with BJP was never smooth sailing and he has often gone to the extreme to criticize PM Narendra Modi. The first time he had criticized PM Modi was when his home state Gujarat was rocked by communal riots after the Godhra massacre in 2002. The second time was in 2018, when parted ways with the NDA blaming Modi for not granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh, which would have brought it more funds.
Pawan Kalyan’s untiring efforts made it possible for Chandra Babu Naidu to return to the NDA fold and stand shoulder to shoulder with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. However it must be noted that it was a huge sacrifice since it came at the cost of seats that his party had to sacrifice.
This was followed by a campaign blitzkrieg by both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan to make the chemistry of the alliance work and transfer of votes between the two parties. It was also a big boon for the BJP which had hardly one percent vote share in Andhra Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders chipped in and backed the TDP-Jana Sena’s narrative of development and progress in contrast to the “corrupt and inefficient” ruling party in Andhra.
Naidu also did not criticize the welfare policies initiated by the YSRCP government and said that he will make it more efficient to provide jobs and address aspirations. However both sides also indulged in questionable tactics which included personal attacks, character assassination, below-the-belt jibes. However in the end the alliance was able to woo the voters and rest is history.
