TDP’s latest allegation is that BJP-TRS have opted for early elections in Telangana so as to finish off TDP in that state in first phase and later form a suitable strategy to destroy it in AP in the subsequent 2019 general elections.
The ruling party in AP has come to the conclusion that it will be the ultimate target for almost all parties which are BJP, TRS, YCP, Jana Sena, Left and also some sections of leaders in Congress.
The only relief for TDP, however, is that there is utter disunity among these opposition parties whose leaderships have their own respective agendas working at cross purposes and going in different directions with no meeting point in sight.
BJP has its own regional challenges in both leadership and poll preparation. If assembly elections are held simultaneously in twin states, there are more chances that BJP leaders would be preoccupied more with Telangana than AP considering the high stakes they have there. TRS will not be of any support secretly or otherwise for AP elections if there is a simultaneous poll. Once polls are separately held, TRS may also extend some help to anti-TDP parties in AP.
Indeed, pre-election alertness and strategy formation are going to play a key role in TDP’s bid to retain power. It is going to be a tight rope walk for the party despite the general line of thinking prevailing in AP now that the state’s future will best be safeguarded if Chandrababu is re-elected for another term.
Obviously, rival opposition parties seem to have perceived the absence of a clear anti-government feeling among the people especially neutral voters. A strong anti-TDP wave is not yet created nor are there any signs of it getting formed on its own from out of people in the coming crucial months. This may be the reason why most of the opposition is rallying together to get a secret understanding so as to inflict defeat on TDP or prevent Chandrababu from coming back.
For now, TDP leaders see no immediate threat in the form of a possible formation of a strong, pre-poll anti-Chandrababu alliance.
As regards the issue of secret understandings, this would be a difficult task to form an estimate as the impact of such hidden strategies varies with each assembly segment and depends also on the profiles of candidates in the fray.
Clearly, 2019 polls in AP will be fought more in strategy rooms of respective parties than at the level of polling booths.
