Chandrababu's Kuppam Road Show: TDP Cadre Stare At Uncertain Future?

CHITTOR: The fourth phase  of panchayat polls ended on a high note, and the YSRCP-backed candidates grabbed nearly 80 percent of the votes thus sealing the fate of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and putting the political future of its president Nara Chandrababu Naidu in difficulty. After the party's severe defeat in the panchayat polls the Opposition leader embarked on a three-day tour of his Kuppam assembly constituency in Chittoor district on Thursday for what one would call as damage control and assess the cause for the drubbing in the elections.

Chandrababu, who was scheduled to reach Gudupalle mandal in Kuppam at 12 noon from Bangalore, arrived 3 hours late. TDP leaders were shocked that the party activists did not arrive on time at the Rallagangamma temple junction where he was supposed to address a meeting with the party activists directly. However, Chandrababu, who received information on the matter, decided to arrive late and the local leaders were relieved at his late arrival.

The TDP Chief spoke about his failure in addressing the party workers interests as he was focussed on the development of the State since the bifurcation. This did not go down too well with the TDP activists who expressed their irritation over his speech. Instead of analysing reasons for what went wrong in the panchayat polls, the TDP leader's speech was more about his attempts to develop the State. Many of them were upset that he made no mention about taking action against three main leaders who were responsible for the defeat of the party in Kuppam and the deterioration of the party in the region.

The TDP leader faced another bitter experience at the Gudupalle meeting when some activists raised their voices and questioned him about what he had done for the welfare of the party activists so far. They also demanded that he remove the leaders who were responsible for the defeat of the party .Shocked at the activists outbursts Chandrababu tried to impress upon them and pacify them and said that there will be a change of leadership, but it cannot be done right now. This angered the activists further leading to a commotion. Chandrababu was seen shouting at them to stay calm and hear him out. Unable to handle them further, he quickly concluded the meeting and left the venue in a hurry. Afterwards, he went to address the road show, where he faced the same situation with a lackluster crowd.

TDP activists were shocked when Chandrababu hit out at Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy during his road show in Kuppam Assembly constituency.

He commented that the YSRCP leader would not have contested from the Punganur constituency in the last elections if he had taken revenge against him. These comments that were in poor taste did not go down well with the activists, who were hoping for some encouragement from the senior politician as the Municipal, ZPTC and MPTC elections were round the corner.

He made provoking remarks asking them to rebel against the  police force and officials. Speaking further, Chandrababu said that he would ensure that all cases would be 'struck off with one single signature as soon as they came to power', much to the chagrin of the TDP activists.

He said the Handri-Neeva canal could not be completed during his reign due to negligence of the contractors, and blamed the present government for not completing it. After hearing his speech, one of the party leaders stated on condition of anonymity that Chandrababu had not changed and which is the reason why even in Kuppam constituency the TDP was in a crisis. Political analysts say that in his entire political career, the TDP Chief had never addressed so many media conferences as he did this time (15 times), and his demeanour in this road show at Kuppam is almost pushing the TDP cadre in dire straits.