A setback to TDP

By R.J. Rajendra Prasad.

HYDERABAD, JULY 19. The results of the elections to the Zilla Parishads has clearly been a setback to the ruling Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh. Out of the 22 Zilla Parishads, the TDP could win only 10. The Congress (I) could win four on its own. The newly-formed Telengana Rashtra Samithi captured the Nizamabad ZP. The TRS and Congress, however, won in Warangal, Karimnagar, Medak, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy districts, while the Congress won at Khammam with the support of the Left parties with which it had seat adjustments.

There is a tie at Vizianagaram ZP, where the Telugu Desam and the Congress bagged 17 seats each, and the winner may be chosen by lots on July 23.

One reason for the Telugu Desam's poor showing is that the election was localised, in the sense that a Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency member is elected by about 20,000 to 30,000 voters, compared to about one lakh to two lakh voters electing a MLA.

The Congress leaders are jubilant over their party's performance. They feel the decision to decentralise candidate selection, leaving the job to cadres at the district-level, was a major factor for the party's good performance.

The Telengana Rashtra Samithi, which campaigned on a single point programme of separate Statehood, performed well only in Nizamabad, where it won 19 out of 36 seats, and in Karimnagar, where it won 22 out of 56 seats, and with 19 of Congress, could capture the ZP. The TRS did not get a single seat in Khammam, won one in Ranga Reddy, two in Mahbubnagar, 14 in Medak, 12 in Warangal, nine in Nalgonda and five in Adilabad. Mr. K.Chandrasekhara Rao, president of the TRS, said that his purpose in contesting was not to win seats, but to emerge as a political force, and he says he achieved the objective within 70 days of founding his party.

The Telugu Desam is doing some introspection, considering the result to be a warning to the Chief Minister, Mr. N.Chandrababu Naidu, to resort to some mid-term course correction of his policies. The Assembly elections are due only in September, 2004. Mr. Naidu made his development effort the central theme of his campaign, and criticised the Congress for talking of free power (to farmers) only at the time of elections. He offered to give free power if the Congress Governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan do so.

He is under pressure to go slow on the economic restructuring undertaken with the help of World Bank, because the Opposition says power tariff was increased only to please the World Bank.

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