Khammam: All parties court TDP as its favour may tilt balance in polls

Khammam : In an interesting political development, it appears as if the TDP now holds “power” in the upcoming Parliament elections for Telangana political parties; TDP’s decision on whom it will support with its vote bank might just hold the key for determining who wins the Khammam seat.

It may be recalled that in the recent Assembly elections, the TDP gave its direct support to Congress, which helped the latter party gain a number of seats Telangana. While TDP itself didn’t run for office in TG, its officials publicly backed Congress’ efforts to gain influence.

However, in the general elections in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP formed alliances with the BJP and Janasena.

Now that both TG and AP are close towards the Parliament elections, it remains to be seen whom the TDP will offer support. As of right now, there’s no official announcement from the party. Both the BJP and BRS candidates approached TDP officers in Khammam in hopes of finding support.

Notably, the BJP has declared candidates for all 17 seats in the state, although they did not specify the state’s partnerships. It may be recalled that the BJP and Jana Sena ran in the TG’s Assembly elections together, however they were completely unsuccessful. The BJP had supported the four Jana Sena candidates running in the Khammam district

Statewide, especially in the Khammam district, there are differences. Because of the TDP’s historic strength, especially during unified AP, it is imperative for candidates of major political parties to form an alliance with TDP. In the BRS wave elections of 2014, however, the TDP had secured two Assembly seats.

Remarkably so, the leaders of the TDP in Khammam LS seat are receiving unwavering support from the Congress, BJP, and BRS. On his first visit to Khammam, the party’s announced BJP MP candidate, Tandra Vinod Rao, went straight to the district TDP headquarters to ask for their support.

On the other hand, the former TDP leader and current MP Nama Nageswara Rao, who is the BRS MP candidate, is also vying for TDP support. Nama is hoping that their supporters will back him in the LS polls.

Kurapati Venkateswarlu, the general secretary of the State TDP, spoke to The Hans India regarding recent occurrences. He disclosed that the party had not issued any directives on support for the BJP or any other parties.

“The party refrained from openly endorsing candidates in the Assembly elections, but succeeded in opposing the BRS government,” he said. According to him, the party’s average vote-bank share in the former Khammam district was 15%. He noted that it was 20% in the town.

According to Kurapati, the BJP and TDP’s affiliations were merely in AP and may not be applicable here in Telangana. “We will work on party chief N Chandra Babu’s directions in the LS polls,” he declared.