Prof K Nageshwar: Whither TDP Boycott Of Parishad Polls?

N Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to boycott ZPTC and MPTC polls has invited sharp criticism from his political opponents and led to a sense of discomfort among the party leaders. The reasons cited by Naidu are quite curious. The high-handedness of ruling YSR Congress and the reign of repression let loose by the people in power during the phase of nominations is primarily cited as the ground for the boycott.

It is true that the local body polls have seen several instances of muscle power pressed into service to scare away the opposition from contesting. The unusually high number of unanimous elections also gives credence to the allegations of unfair electoral practices indulged by the ruling party. But such acts were not confined to ZPTC and MPTC elections. The ruling YSR Congress faced similar allegations during gram panchayat and municipal polls. But surprisingly, TDP has not only contested these elections but has even claimed significant victories. The TDP released its manifesto for the gram panchayat polls which are not held on a party basis. 

Chandrababu Naidu  claimed that TDP has won 40 percent of seats in gram panchayat polls. TDP suffered massive erosion of about ten percent vote in municipal elections held in urban areas, where the discontent over Jagan’s government can be relatively more. Yet the YSR Congress could win most of the municipal posts disappointing TDP.

The critics refer to TDP’s dual stand of boycotting ZPTC, MPTC polls and participating municipal polls, and even gram panchayat polls, though not held on a party basis.

Despite the drubbing, the TDP braving the ruling party’s onslaught could get sizeable voting in the municipal polls indicating that it’s the only alternative to the ruling YSR Congress notwithstanding the unsubstantiated claims of BJP. Given this political polarisation, TDP insiders fear that the exit of the party from the poll fray would dissipate the party vote and weaken its position as the principal challenger to the YSR Congress.

Elections are the lifeline of the political party system. No escape from contesting for parties despite political headwinds. In fact, Chandrababu Naidu’s boycott call will only be informal as the nomination phase was long over. The boycott call will only help Naidu to claim that the party could still get so many votes despite leaving the contest. Such a claim may have a polemical advantage but does not help the party in any way on the ground. It will only harm the TDP men and women, who have a reasonable chance of winning the polls. It will dampen the political fighting spirit that always sustained the party even in the most typical period of its history.  Only the future will tell us the efficacy of Chandrababu Naidu’s strategy in fostering TDP’s political fortunes. 

-By Prof K Nageshwar

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