TDP Leaders See Nara Lokesh’s Modi Endorsement as ‘Total Surrender’
Political leaders say one thing on the surface, but in reality, they do something else. For their political needs, they keep compromising whenever and wherever necessary, while justifying it as being for the needs of the state or even the country. Since the coalition government came to power in Andhra Pradesh, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan has been repeatedly saying one thing. Even though Jana Sena leaders and cadre do not like it at all, he has not stopped chanting it. He has been saying that for the next fifteen years, Chandrababu alone should be the Chief Minister in Andhra Pradesh, and the coalition government should remain in power. Pawan Kalyan has been stressing that if they split for any reason, the state will once again fall into the hands of anarchic forces. On this, a key Jana Sena leader revealed an interesting point. To come to power on their own, they need to struggle a lot and spend thousands of crores of rupees. But Pawan Kalyan neither has the patience for such struggle nor does he have the capacity to spend so much money, he said. That is why the current model is very convenient for Pawan Kalyan. Since he gets positions along with benefits, Pawan Kalyan keeps repeating the same line again and again, say Jana Sena leaders.
Moreover, according to the party leaders’ analysis, if Pawan Kalyan jumps into the field right now and struggles alone, even the seats they currently hold cannot be retained. If Pawan Kalyan moves aside, it will only benefit YSRCP, and nothing else. In any case, a senior leader said that in all respects, it is more advantageous for Pawan Kalyan to stay with Chandrababu than to align with Jagan. Just like Pawan Kalyan has been chanting Chandrababu’s name for some time now, TDP leaders believe that Nara Lokesh is also chanting Modi’s name in the same way now. Speaking recently at the India Today Conclave, Nara Lokesh stated that even in the upcoming elections, that is in 2029, they would support NDA, and that they have confidence in Modi’s leadership. For the BJP to come to power at the Centre for the fourth time would be extraordinary. In fact, it is not even clear yet whom BJP and RSS will project as their leader in the next elections. On the other hand, just as the BJP once sidelined leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi by citing age, there are now demands that the same policy be applied to Modi himself.
In this context, even TDP leaders are commenting that Nara Lokesh declaring their support for Modi’s leadership in the next elections amounts to nothing but a complete surrender. Any political party usually makes strategies based on the situation at the time. But such early declarations only serve as reminders that they have surrendered, a senior leader remarked. Within TDP circles, there is also discussion that, like Jagan, Chandrababu too has surrendered completely to Modi this time for various reasons, including the cases pending against them. Even though the cases against Chandrababu are not as serious as those against Jagan, the fact that the party in power at the Centre can do anything has been proved many times before. That is why this time, unlike in the past, Chandrababu has reached a position where whatever Modi says is final. Now, with Nara Lokesh taking another step forward and declaring that they will continue to play local politics but support Modi in the next elections too, even a minister commented that there could not be a greater act of surrender than this. In reality, in 2014, TDP and BJP contested the elections together and came to power both in the state and at the Centre. When Modi became Prime Minister for the first time, as part of NDA, TDP tried to appoint an officer from their side to the PMO, but Modi reportedly rejected it, as per IAS circles. But this time, given past experiences, TDP leaders themselves believe that Chandrababu has surrendered completely to Modi right from day one. Even in the Vice Presidential elections, when there was no need, BJP sought the support of YSRCP, which is a political rival to TDP and Jana Sena in Andhra Pradesh. Yet, neither Chandrababu nor Pawan Kalyan dared to open their mouths. This clearly shows how much they have surrendered, a discussion going on in both parties suggests.
