TDP sees itself ‘Settlers Party’, counts on winning 5 LS seats in Telangana

Despite the exodus of several leaders in the Telangana region, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is confident of not only retaining the two Lok Sabha seats it had won in the region in 2009, but bag three more constituencies (Malkajgiri, Chevella and Mahbubabad) in the light of the changed dynamics brought about by the bifurcation of the state.

While Khammam and Adilabad are the two seats that the TDP won in the last elections from the region, the remaining four seats came from the Seemandhra region.

It’s reasoning is that settlers from Andhra form a huge chunk of the electorate in these three constituencies. While Malkajgiri does have a large number of settlers, there are others too like Loksatta’s Jayaprakash Narayan who want to woo the Seemandhra voters. “If there are many leaders representing Seemandhra interests, the votes will get divided and all of them can end up as losers,” said a TDP leader. Similarly, in Chevella, the TDP may see a very strong adversary in sitting MP and Union minister S Jaipal Reddy of the Congress. TDP’s AP Jitender Reddy had lost to Jaipal by over 18,000 votes in the 2009 elections. However, the TDP can take solace in the fact that the BJP had taken away over a lakh of the votes and if the expected alliance between the two opposition parties happens, this can put the combine on a strong wicket.

The TDP’s hopes of winning the Mahbubabad Lok Sabha seat are linked to it retaining the Khammam seat. Party sources claimed that despite the bifurcation and the regional divide it brought about, the TDP will be able to once again win the Khammam seat represented by sitting MP Nama Nageswar Rao. And because it believes it is on a strong footing in Khammam district, the TDP sniffs victory in the Mahbubabad constituency as well. Because although it comes under Warangal district, three of its Assembly constituencies, namely, Illendu, Bhadrachalam and Pinapaaka are actually in Khammam district. “In Khammam, we are strong and the TRS is weak. Therefore, we should be able to retain Khammam and wrest Mahbubabad from the Congress,” claimed TDP sources. However, they admitted that the presence and the allegiance of the two left parties — CPM and CPI — cannot be ignored in Khammam district.

The TDP is also expecting to retain the Adilabad Lok Sabha seat represented by its MP Ramesh Rathore. The TRS is very weak in Adilabad and, coupled with the good work Rathore has done in the constituency, the TDP is all set to renominate him and expect him to emerge the winner.

“In the 2009 elections, we may not have won in some areas where the settlers population is strong. That was due to various reasons. But this time around, all these votes will be consolidated towards the TDP,” its leader Revanth Reddy said.

Source: Times of India