Can Naidu Afford to Cut The Branch He is Sitting?

Municipal Elections are round the corner in Andhra Pradesh. They are the first Elections with party symbols in Andhra Pradesh after the 2019 Elections. The elections will also serve as a referendum for YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Three Capitals idea. It will be interesting to see what the electorate of Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam decides to do.

In the wake of this, Telugu Desam Party is vertically split in Vijayawada city. MP Kesineni Nani and Buddha Venkanna are at loggerheads and their differences have come before media as well. Nani made some stern comments about what is happening in the party and even made some adverse comments on the party’s leadership inept handling of the affairs in Vijayawada.

Nani is a mass leader and managed to win the Vijayawada Loksabha segment even when the anti-TDP wave swept the entire state. He is working hard to win the Corporation as his daughter, Swetha is in the Mayor race. Buddha on the other hand, is a loyalist of Naidu but is not effective in electoral politics.

It is not easy to ignore a loyalist but TDP can not afford to let down someone like Kesineni Nani who can change the fortunes of the party in Vijayawada. Naidu has the habit of remaining silent in such situations hoping that things would become normal themselves. But this is definitely not the way how this issue should be handled. Messing up the affairs of Vijayawada would only meaning cutting the branch he is sitting on. It will seal the future of Amaravati and also the hopes of TDP revival.