Failures in politics are bitter, but some are costlier than they appear to be. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was politically decimated by a wave in favour of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP in the recent elections, saw its worst ever defeat in history. What perhaps hit the party closest to home, is that the TDP failed to gain even one out of the three Assembly seats where the state's capital is coming up, under the jurisdiction of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).
Amaravati region has three Assembly constituencies. While Mangalagiri and Tadikonda constitute the core of the capital region, parts of Pedakurapadu constituency also come under the jurisdiction of the CRDA. TDP General Secretary and former state Minister Nara Lokesh, who made his electoral debut from Mangalagiri, faced a debacle as he lost by over 5,000 votes to YSRCP sitting candidate Alla Ramakrishna Reddy. Observers say that Lokesh, the son of outgoing Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, could not 'sell' the Amaravati dream effectively enough. It was also a litmus test as to whether the people on the ground had accepted the dream city that the TDP was promising to them.
TDP was unable to regain Tadikonda and Pedakurapadu seats either. In Tadikonda constituency, Undavalli Sreedevi won with over 4,000 votes against Tenali Shravan Kumar, and Pedakurapadu was won by Namburu Shankar Rao with over 14.000 votes against Kommalapati Sreedhar.
The Krishna and Guntur districts are known to be bastions of the TDP until recently, as the party was always assured of a win here. However, the results have turned the scene upside down. It is also in these two districts that capital development works are taking place. In both districts TDP has now been confined to four seats with two seats in each district.
Several observers say that the result is a backslash from the dwellers of the capital region who mostly comprise farmers and labourers. Reports suggest that several TDP leaders came under fire from the leadership as the party performed poorly even in Undavalli, where Chandrababu Naidu was residing with his family.
Speaking to reporters in Vijayawada this week, YSRCP spokesperson and Penamaluru MLA Kolusu Partha Sarathy quipped that the TDP's claims of 'development' were refused with a 'fitting reply' in Amaravati itself. He said, "People have taught you befitting lesson in a place (Mangalagiri) where you talked about world class capital in Amaravati and claimed there were Singapore companies by showing graphics."
Kolusu said that Chandrababu Naidu was earlier shunted out by people in Hyderabad for claiming that he had developed the city and Lokesh and Naidu were also given a 'slap' for forceful acquisition of land from farmers in Amaravati now.