Ever since the Telugu Desam Party snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party in April last year, TDP president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been targeting the BJP in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular.
In the last few months, he has stepped up his attack on Modi and has even been ganging up with the other opposition parties in the country, including the Congress party, to float an anti-BJP front at the national level.
The reason is simple: the people of Andhra Pradesh are angry with the BJP for not granting special category status to the state and also not fulfilling the promises made in the bifurcation act. That is why Naidu took a U-turn and started raising these issues at his Dharma Porata Deeksha.
At the same time, he is desperately trying to create an impression among the people of the state that his rival Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has been hand in glove with the BJP and has been harping on the same at every meeting.
He is of the view that since the people do not like the BJP, they would not like the YSRC as well, because Jagan is going soft towards the saffron party.
However, the strategy might boomerang on Naidu after seeing the developments in the last couple of weeks.
The nation-wide anger over the terrorist attack on soldiers in Pulwama in Kashmir and the latest surgical strikes on Pakistan has definitely brought a lot of mileage to the BJP, which is gaining a lot of support from the urban youth and also educated sections.
So, the chances of Modi returning to power at the Centre for a second successive term have also become brighter now. This might bring some change in the thinking of the urban voters of Andhra Pradesh as well.
Though they might not vote for the BJP in the state, but the fact that Modi is going to return to power at the Centre will definitely have an impact on the electorate.
Since Naidu has taken an anti-Modi stand, the people might not vote for him for the simple reason that Modi, once returns to power at the Centre, will continue to take anti-Andhra Pradesh attitude because of Naidu.
It might not be the case if Jagan comes to power, since YSRC might end up making friendship with NDA.
So, there is every possibility that people might vote for Jagan for a better relationship with Modi government, rather than Naidu who is spreading hatred against Modi.
That way, the anti-Modi stand is going to backfire on Naidu!
