Naidu should focus more on his achievements

As the date of polling draws nearer, it will be worthwhile to ponder over the narrative so far playing in the 2019 general elections in the country. The issue assumes greater importance in at least four States - Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, which are having simultaneous polls - to both the Assembly and Parliament. With the simultaneous elections on card, the possibility of the State government performances dominating and weighing more in the minds of people increases. Also, unlike in the other States, the issue of national priority dims a bit and this would naturally lead to the macro issues getting forgotten. In Andhra Pradesh, the fight is between just two political rivals as one had seen so far - the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party and the Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSRCP.

The others, Pawan Kalyan of Jana Sena and K A Paul of Praja Shanti Party, the Congress and the BJP are all fringe players here. Thus, while the campaign is heavily loaded in favour of debating the performance of the government, the others are whiling away their time with the thought of denting the prospects of their perceived rivals. That is all. Naidu has cleverly injected the Telangana factor in the campaign of late and is calculating to reap the benefit as Jaganmohan Reddy has fallen into his trap by dubbing Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao a friend of AP. This is where the sentiment, if any, is all set to play as Naidu is bound to raise the pitch in the dying hours of campaign.

The Congress is just bewildered and confused without a proper plan of revival and is still fighting Jagan and not Naidu, the credit again goes to the brilliance of the latter. Courting Rahul Gandhi at the national level, but shunning his party locally, Naidu has neutralised even that small percentage of votes. An advantage for the TDP in AP is its performance. In fact, the TDP should have been harping more on the issue as it has fared the best in the country on economic growth parameters. Its irrigation schemes and diversion of water through the so-called inter river linking have been the most welcome feature to the parched lands of the State including Rayalaseema. This is one aspect that surprises one - why is the TDP not banking on what it has done to the State more? If there are delays in the construction of the capital or its public debt has gone up, one should note that these are all structural issues and that Naidu has been fighting the Centre single-handed and without much aid.

The TDP and the YSRCP have played their game vis a vis the BJP and the NDA, with Naidu being more honest and Jagan playing hide-and-seek game. Anyway, AP will be one State which could be down to the wire. Either of these parties would play an important role post elections in the national scenario. This is another factor that peps up the leadership of the two parties. Perhaps, AP voters would love to see a hung verdict for their own good at the Centre.