TDP is in tatters in Nalgonda. A series of desertions by party’s long time leaders and lack of leadership have decimated the party in the district which was once its stronghold.
Nalgonda is one of the districts in the then United Andhra Pradesh that gave huge victories to NT Rama Rao who set a record by storming into power within 9 months of announcing a political party. Constituencies like Bhongir, Alair, Nagarjunasagar, Kodad, Suryapet were once impenetrable bastions of the party. TDP represented 7 out of 12 constituencies in the erstwhile Nalgonda district. But party has seen its fortunes plummeting for the last 10 years. None of the party candidates out of all 12 seats in the district could make it to Assembly in 2014 elections post-bifurcation. Worse, the party could not contest even a single seat in the entire district in 2018 Assembly polls. The Grand Alliance with its longtime arch rival Congress could not help the party in any manner.
Glorious past
TDP had a proud electoral record in Nalgonda district. In Bhongir, which it lost to TRS in 2014, the party candidates A Madhava Reddy, and after his demise his wife Uma Madhava Reddy had been winning all elections from 1985 to 2009. Party had also been a winner in other constituencies like Alair, Tungaturti, Suryapet, Kodad, Nagarjunasagar while CPI and CPM registered many victories in Nalgonda, Munugodu, Devarakonda and Nakrekal with TDP support. It also won Nalgonda ZP once. TDP founder president NT Rama Rao won the Nalgonda Assembly seat in 1985 elections. The party once ruled the roost in the district with a large number of MLAs, ministers, MPs, ZP chiefs, Rajya Sabha members, but has now become a pale shadow of its past self.
Desertions
TDP leadership’s ‘two-eyes’ theory during separate Telangana agitation did immense damage to the party as leaders and cadres could not play an active role in the Telangana movement. Owing to the confusion and Operation Akarsh by TRS, many TDP leaders left the party for the pink party. The setting up of separate district committees after carving of new districts did not help the party much. While the first wave of exodus from the party was to TRS, the second wave has been to Congress. Party leaders who were former MLAs and Ministers too left the party. Kodad former MLA Venepalli Chandar Rao was the first to migrate to TRS, and Uma Madhava Reddy followed him. Her son Sandeep Reddy, who was the Yadadri-Bhongir district TDP chief earlier, joined TRS and is now ZP chairman of the new district.
Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, who was the party district chief for a long time, later abandoned cycle for the car and has been made Rajya Sabha member. Finally, Mothkupalli Narsimhulu, who used to be party’s senior leader in the party, left the party and joined BJP. Currently, the party does not have a single post in the district. Even though there are many loyalists in the party and a devoted vote base, the party leadership is not showing much intent to revive and rejuvenate the party in the district which was once its bastion.