Naidu back in full swing, Pawan turns active again in AP

VIJAYAWADA: This year, Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu has put back the party on the right track after the grand success of his Mahanadu and embarked on election campaigns in all districts under the Badude Badudu programmes. Naidu partly recovered from his party's humiliating defeat in the 2019 elections and started raising his voice against the Jagan government by holding numerous protests and agitations.

During 2022, Naidu faced a humiliating defeat in the local elections in his home turf, Kuppam, where YSRC bagged a majority of these seats. Sensing the need of the hour, Naidu immediately plunged into action and conducted a tour of Kuppam, rejuvenated the party cadre, started construction of own house in Kuppam and filled confidence in the cadres despite the YSRC’s swift plans to grab Kuppam in the next elections.
 
After briefly talking to Prime Minister Modi in August-2022 after a long time, Naidu succeeded in giving hope to his party’s rank and file about a possibility of restoring the TD’s old ties with the BJP. His attempts to run down Modi and the BJP before the 2019 general elections had led to a complete stand-off between the BJP and TD.
 
Days ago, Naidu succeeded in reenergizing the TD from its slumber in Telangana by conducting a massive public rally in Khammam.  

Political analysts say Naidu’s strength is his active mode in spite of his age (72) by participating in political rallies and meetings aggressively, after a period of relative lull. They say Pawan Kalyan, who shunned Naidu in the 2019 elections, is now getting ready to join hands with the TD, against the YSRC, which is a major  advantage to Naidu.

Pawan Kalyan, preparing a Bus Yatra in Jan2023, besides acting in films, used 2022 to be back in active politics. He conducted several programmes to take on the YSRC in Visakhapatnam and other areas and, despite his busy schedule, spared time for the party’s strengthening by visiting AP on weekdays.
 
The film Bheemla Naik getting troubled by the rules of the YSRC government made him gain some sympathy from the public. His activities of fighting against the bad roads in the state and extending financial help to the poor farmers perhaps made him win some public support, analysts say.