TDP Alliance In Telangana, Secret Pact in AP With Congress 

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

In politics, it is rightly said that nothing is permanent. After all Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Telangana unit in-charge L Ramana officially announced that the party's alliance with the Congress was in the making. TDP leaders, who once likened former Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Nathuram Godse, the activist who had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, are now excited to join hands with the Congress party. At the same time, the Congress leaders, who had once remarked that TDP Chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu robbed the funds and resources of Telangana, cannot wait to form the Congress-TDP alliance. AP Deputy Chief Minister Chinarajappa clarified that the Congress-TDP alliance in Telangana had nothing to do with the state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh, and that the TDP would not form an alliance with the Congress in the State.

No one would have thought at the time of its formation, that the TDP would stoop down to such a low in politics. It would have been a pain to witness the Congress-TDP alliance to party founder NTR, had he been alive. Some argue that the Congress and the Communist parties, which are ideologically rival parties, also colluded to form an alliance. They tend to forget the fact that in 2004, the communist parties were no longer the same strong Opposition party they were in the 1950s.

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The rivalry between the Congress and that TDP is as fresh as the note for vote case in public memory. It was only six months back that the leaders of the two parties had abused each other. "Sonia Gandhi is the Anaconda of corruption.... Chandrababu Naidu should not tolerate Congress President Rahul Gandhi if he attends the meeting on the Special Category Status (SCS)," said a TDP leader recently.

In a dramatic turn of events, the Congress party has suddenly become a TDP-friendly party in the last few months. Does it mean that the Congress changed its views on all these matters? Or does it mean that the TDP has withdrawn all the comments it made against the Congress? It surely means that there is no scope for political ethics and ideological consensus when it comes to both the parties. It would have been a decent affair if the leaders of the two parties had apologized to each other for their altercations.

The TDP's alliance with the Congress is confined to Telangana. It means that Chandrababu would fund the Congress and help select its candidates. The Congress's motive in the alliance lies in Chandrababu's funding, whereas the TDP wants to cash in on the few seats it may win in Telangana with the help of Congress. Of late, people's opinion and the inputs given by party workers are not taken into consideration. By pledging to defeat the TRS, the Opposition parties seem to ignore public opinion.

It was with the Congress party that Chandrababu's political career began and he had even won as MLA on a Congress ticket. Fortunately for him, he had become TDP founder NTR's son-in-law later, before ousting NTR himself from the helm. Therefore, it might not be a difficult alliance to form with the Congress. However, it might be a tad difficult for the loyalists of TDP, who had been with the party from its inception. Only time should tell us if Chandrababu would be successful in polluting the minds of TDP cadre with his unethical principles.

To form an alliance with the Congress in Telangana and to run a secret alliance in AP is a test in itself to Chandrababu. It might be a test to the people of both the Telugu States, who long for a government with integrity and ethics.

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