The resignation of five YSR Congress party MPs on the last day of the Lok Sabha budget session on April 5 did not create much impact on Telugu Desam Party headed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.He was pretty confident that Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan would not accept the resignations of YSRC MPs – Y V Subba Reddy, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, V Varaprasad Reddy, Y Avinash Reddy and P Mithun Reddy; or at least keep them in pending indefinitely.
If the resignations are accepted before June 2, when the new state of Andhra Pradesh was formed, there is no possibility of conducting the by-elections, as the Election Commission will not conduct by-elections to the seats having less than a year term.But Naidu seems to have got the information that the Lok Sabha speaker might accept the resignations very soon after calling the MPs for a final round of talks. This is according to the strategy adopted by the BJP central leadership to embarrass the TDP.
By allowing the by-elections to be held, the BJP wants to see that the TDP loses all the five MP seats with huge majority in the hands of the YSRC.That will be a morale booster for the YSRC and a loss of face for the TDP. It shows the magnitude of the anti-establishment sentiment among the people and that will be a big blow to Naidu before the next elections.
That is precisely why Naidu alerted all his party leaders and cadre in their respective constituencies and see that the party is all prepared to face the elections.But in heart in hearts, Naidu knows that it is easier said than done, as YSRC will cash in on the sympathy wave and also the special category status sentiment!
