Form of words:
Hyderabad: On 28 September, the two main parties in Andhra Pradesh – the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) – announced their candidates for the October 30 by-election in Badvel, which was necessitated due to the death of sitting YSRCP MLA G Venkata Subbaiah.
YSRCP fielded Sudha’s ticket Subbaiah’s wife, TDP chose Obulapuram Rajasekhar, who had lost to the MLA in the 2019 assembly elections.
Five days later, on October 3, TDP withdrew Rajasekhar’s candidature After the meeting of the Politburo chaired by party chief Chandrababu Naidu. The party cited a nearly three-decade-old tradition – of not fielding candidates in by-elections, which are brought about because of the death of a sitting MLA, when one of the candidates is a member of the deceased MLA’s family.
This is a tradition which TDP has not followed consistently. But in this case he said that apart from being Subbaiah’s wife, he took into account the fact that Sudha belonged to the Dalit community.
“It was a unanimous decision, and it is our tradition not to field candidates if any member of the family member of the deceased MP or MLA is contesting. When Naidu mentioned it in the meeting, everyone agreed,” TDP state president K.K. Atchannaidu told ThePrint on Monday.
But the decision has also come at a time when TDP is in the middle. series of humiliating defeats In the state, starting with the assembly elections in 2019, when the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP won a thumping victory, and continuing until the most recent local body elections, the ruling party won another landslide victory.
The TDP boycotted the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) elections held in April, the results of which came out last week. It accused the Jagan government of conducting elections in an undemocratic and unfair manner.
However, the party insists that its electoral fate had no bearing on its decision to pull out of the Budwell bypoll.
“Our decision has nothing to do with victory or defeat; Nor are we afraid to contest elections against anyone. We have followed our tradition as the ticket was being given to a family member,” TDP leader Pattabi Ram told ThePrint.
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NTR started the tradition, but the party has broken it sometimes
According to Atchanaidu, the tradition was started by the party’s founder, former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao, the actor-turned-politician, commonly known as NTR, in the late 1980s.
Several party leaders, including Atchannaidu, who have contacted ThePrint do not remember the exact year, but agree that the tradition had come into existence since the time of NTR. He founded the TDP in 1982.
However, leaders told ThePrint that in 2002, when Congress’s Deverakonda MLA Ragya Naik was killed in a Naxal attack last year, the TDP was pulled out of the bypolls after his wife Bharti was given a Congress ticket. She was unanimously elected MLA.
Then, in 2006, the TDP did not field a candidate in the required bypoll following the death of Congress MLA C. Narasi Reddy, who was also killed in a Naxalite attack. Congress had given ticket to MLA’s son C. Ram Mohan Reddy.
In fact, in 2009, when the then CM and Jagan’s father YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash, the TDP did not field a candidate against his wife YS Vijayamma, who contested on behalf of the Congress.
There are three other such instances of bypolls where TDP has refrained from contesting elections.
But it hasn’t always followed tradition, breaking it on at least two occasions.
For example, in 2000, when Congress MLA P. Indra Reddy died in a car accident, his widow Sabita Indira Reddy (now a minister in Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s cabinet) was given a party ticket. TDP, however, fielded Kitchenagri Laxma Reddy, who Lost Survey.
Then in 2006, when Dronamaraju Satyanarayana, the Congress MLA from Visakhapatnam, died, his son Dronamaraju Srinivasa Rao contested the by-election and won. At that time TDP had made Abdul Rehman its candidate.
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Not just TDP, centuries old tradition in Andhra
Experts say this ‘tradition’ is not limited to the TDP, and has been followed by the YSRCP and Congress at times.
Hyderabad-based political analyst Palvai Raghavendra Reddy told ThePrint that the practice was followed by major political parties in the 1990s and 2000s out of respect for the family.
There are about six instances in which the YSRCP and the Congress did not contest the elections separately when the death of a TDP representative led to a by-election and family members were given tickets.
For example, in 2002, when the then TDP’s Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi died in a helicopter crash, his wife Vijayakumari was announced as the party’s candidate for the Amalapuram Lok Sabha by-election. Congress did not contest the by-election.
The Congress also refrained from contesting the 2007 by-election against the TDP in Therlam assembly constituency for the same reason.
Even the YSRCP has maintained this unwritten limit. In 2014, when TDP MLA Tangirala Prabhakar Rao died, his daughter Tangirala Soumya was the party’s candidate YSRCP did not field any candidate in Nandigama assembly constituency.
In 2015, when the death of TDP MLA Venkata Ramana led to a by-election in Tirupati assembly constituency, his wife Sugunamma was given a party ticket. YSRCP was out of the contest.
“It is like a tradition in (erstwhile undivided) Andhra Pradesh. Most of the parties followed it in good faith to support the family of the deceased leader; It’s like out of respect. But for YSRCP, it is not a party policy,” a senior YSRCP leader told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Telangana Congress leader Mahesh Konagala also said it was “standard practice” in the Telugu-speaking region.
“It was like a custom to allow the family members of the deceased to contest elections freely. But some parties broke this tradition. For example, KCR’s TRS did not follow the tradition after the death of Congress leader Janardhan Reddy in the 2008 by-elections,” Mahesh said.
Janardhan Reddy’s son, P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy contested the election on a Congress ticket and won with a thumping majority because of his father’s popularity. Even at that time TDP did not field any candidate but the reason was also a settlement With the Congress, which did not field a candidate in Therlam.
According to Raghavendra Reddy, however, since 2014, when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, the pattern has changed.
Political analysts also say that the TDP’s latest move is as much about strategy as it is sticking to tradition.
“At Budwell, TDP wants to play it safe. If you look at its loss record, it will be difficult to compete. Also, why is the bulldozer run unnecessarily by the ruling party? Raghavendra Reddy said. “It doesn’t want to hurt everyone that ‘TDP is losing its base’,” he said. Even if they get votes or win here, it is not going to make a big difference. So, it is a very safe, strategic decision by the TDP.”
(Edited by Arun Prashant)
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