TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has said the anti-incumbency wave coupled with failure of all institutional frameworks will ensure his party sweeps both assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh as people have 'realised' the ruling YSR Congress has failed to live up to all its promises.
The former Chief Minister who is fighting to regain power in the state, expressed confidence that the TDP-BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) combine will win 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 160 of the 175 assembly seats comfortably in the simultaneous elections to be held on May 13.
Naidu (74) said the YSRCP came to power on the promise of getting a special status to AP but the issue has been relegated to the background as people are struggling to deal with alleged mismanagement of every government department.
The state has gone into huge financial debt to an extent that people have not received salaries and pensions, he added.
"There is a tremendous anti-incumbency. YSR Congress has destroyed the ecosystem of development in Andhra Pradesh," Naidu told PTI in an interview.
The YSR Congress has not only failed to get a special status for the state but also not been able to build a proper capital even after 10 years of the state bifurcation, he said.
He alleged that the current government has 'destroyed' all government institutions. There is total "chaos" in the state as every sector is in "doldrums".
"Morale of all officers is very low. Nobody is willing to work. This is the scenario today in the state," he said. People were suffering due to lack of development.
"There is no water in the villages. There is no power in the villages, no proper roads. In fact, the income of an ordinary man is far less compared to his expenditure. This is very bad. Total living standards for everybody has gone down," he said.
Naidu further claimed the people have seen the false promises made by the YSR Congress without doing any iota of work on the ground. This has boosted the anti-incumbency wave and people have made up their mind to vote for TDP.
On tying up with BJP despite the saffron party not having enough presence in AP, he said it was done to end the sufferings of the people under the "misrule" of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and bring normalcy in the state.
"At that time, we were very keen on the special status issue. Now, the YSR Congress Party has made the special status a non-issue. Now, if I fight also, nothing will happen," he said.
Due to bifurcation in 2014, Andhra people had to suffer. But they suffered more under the YSR Congress rule.
"We don't want people to suffer any more. And we have to revive, rebuild Andhra Pradesh. That's why we joined together -- BJP, TDP and Jana Sena under the NDA umbrella," he said.
"We will fight, we will restore total normalcy, and also we will create a better future for the people of Andhra."
Asked if alliance with actor-turned politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party will benefit TDP because generally film actors are good crowd pullers but do not turn into votes, Naidu said, "Pawan Kalyan is different as he is a party head. He has a vote bank. That's why we joined him."
He further said TDP, a 43 year-old party having an organisational set up from top to bottom, has seen "ups and downs" and overcome all kinds of crises.
"We produce results. If you can write history, you can write pre-Telugu Desam, post-Telugu Desam. That is how we built it," he said, adding that the party will build "Navya (new) Andhra" if voted to power.
In the simultaneous 2024 polls to be held on May 13, TDP is contesting Lok Sabha polls from 17 seats, JSP in six and BJP in two. The Telugu Desam Party is fighting from 144 Assembly seats as well, with JSP and BJP fielding their nominees from 21 and 10 seats, respectively.
In the 2019 elections, the TDP exited NDA over the alleged lack of enough central funding and demand for special status for AP. Kalyan withdrew support to TDP in 2018.
TDP was reduced to three Lok Sabha seats and 23 assembly seats in the 2019 elections.
On the strategy TDP will adopt to narrow the seat gap in the current election, Naidu said people of the state have suffered so much that they will give a befitting response to YSRCP chief Reddy, who has allegedly looted the state encouraging liquor to sand and land mafia.
Naidu claimed people are frustrated and are committing suicides like never before.
Asked if his arrest in a multi-crore scam could gain the party any sympathy votes, Naidu said not only himself but everybody is a victim in the state.
In a triangular fight, asked if TDP fears the Congress led by Y S Sharmila may eat into its votes, he said the latter is 'nowhere'. "Congress and the YSR Congress are one and the same. They have the same old vote bank."
If voted to power, TDP's top priority will be to restore all institutions and give confidence to people and thereafter implement all the programmes.
TDP is a brand for development which it will prove again, he added.
