Chandra Babu Naidu Exclusive Interview
It is not a good time to be in N. Chandrababu Naidu’s shoes. Having lost the recent byelections, the Telugu Desam chief is finding himself hemmed in from all sides.
In an exclusive interview to this newspaper on Monday, Mr Naidu said that the bypoll loss was not an indication that people had lost faith in the Telugu Desam, but a result of the Congress mishandling the Jagan Mohan Reddy issue. He said the situation in the 2014 general election would be different.
However, it is the here and now that Mr Naidu is grappling with. Asked who the party would back in the presidential election, Mr Naidu bemoaned: “Whom will I choose? I cannot support the UPA candidate because the Congress is heading that. At the same time Pranab Mukherjee is a senior politician, and we just cannot say no. I also cannot support NDA’s candidate as the BJP, a communal party, is heading that front. There is no Third Front. I do not know what the Communists are going to do.”
Would he try and bring down the state government? Mr Naidu shot back: “I do not want to be a tool for someone who wants to destabilise the government and cause some more bypolls. If the government collapses on its own and goes for snap polls, it is okay. But on my own, I don’t want to give support to such moves.”
Trying to put the debacle in the June 12 byelections behind him, Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu is charting out the party's path for the future. This includes possibly making a statement on Telangana and pushing ahead with the agenda of exposing corruption in the government and highlighting public issues.
Q: How do you view the just-concluded bypolls in the state? Your party could not win a single seat despite having the advantage of a split in Congress votes due to the YSR Congress. Your party also failed to win a single seat in the last three years or so. Is it an indication of the people losing confidence in you?
Certainly not. These bypolls were held under special circumstances. We had been exposing the corruption of Jagan Mohan Reddy when YSR was alive and also that of the Congress government, besides highlighting the government’s failures in all fields. But one thing is clear, the governments failed to take action against Jagan in time. They kept quiet all these years and suddenly started taking action which ultimately got sympathy for Jagan. Nowhere in the country or the world has such a thing happened.
In other countries, whenever corruption has been exposed there have been revolutions. Here in the bypolls, sympathy replaced the revolution. It is most unfortunate. Some actions like cancelling Bayyaram mines (the GO) just before polling day, arrest of Jagan and the police taking him in a rickety van to court before polling day, Ghulam Nabi Azad talking about CM and Central minister’s post to Jagan if he had continued in Congress, created sympathy for the YSRC and they swept the polls. Even the other day Kiran Bedi said that Hyderabad was the corruption capital of India. But people did not bother about the corruption angle and chose to act on sympathy grounds. The media also helped to create hype in favour of Jagan. But one this is clear, the bypoll victory will not exonerate Jagan or anyone from facing serious criminal charges.
Q: The ruling Congress got two seats. Instead of the Congress, why did the TDP suffer in the bypolls?
A: As I said, the Congress did not act on Jagan's corruption when it should have. It started acting at the time of polls and it created a sympathy wave and both of us lost. If you go by the vote share, the Congress and PR combine should have got around 65 per cent, but 40 per cent went to YSRC. Our vote share was 30 per cent in the last elections and we lost five per cent in these bypolls. So the major loss was for the Congress. Their inactions and belated actions created reactions and these reactions impacted on us. Otherwise what sins have we committed?
As a responsible Oppos-ition, whatever we had to do to expose corruption in public life, we have done. We also exposed the government's failures on so many fronts which concerned the public. Unfortunately a sympathy wave was created and we lost. Let anyone tell me where the TD went wrong. YSRC deliberately diverted the public's attention by bringing in sympathy factor; they misled the public in the bypolls with the media hype etc. Where was the sympathy for Bangaru Laxman who was jailed for taking bribe of just `one lakh? Why should there be sympathy for Jagan who amassed `1 lakh crore? As the senior-most politician of the state I am telling you, a lot of confusion is ruling the state's politics.
Q: As chief of the party, it is your job to get the votes…
I agree. But the Congress and YSRC both spent `30 crore to `40 crore for each segment. As an Opposition party, where can I get such amounts to spend in the bypolls? I cannot compete with their money power. That is why a while ago I said, why should the TD contest in all bypolls? Better to wait for general elections. Otherwise how can you expect an Opposition party to spend huge amounts each time there is a bypoll? We have faced 60 bypolls in six years.
Q: In the Godavari districts, the stronghold of your party, losing deposits in Ramachandrapuram and Narsapuram constituencies was not an ordinary issue.
It is true but I got reports from party units that there was massive caste polarisation in favour of the Congress and YSRC there and our candidates lost. At some places in Anantapur, our votes went to the Congress and a major chunk of the Congress vote was transferred to the YSRC. I agree it was a setback for my party.
Q: If the situation continues like this, don't you think you will lose the 2014 general elections or if polls are held even before that?
No. Bypolls are always different from general elections. The mood of the electorate will be totally different in general elections. We are also preparing an action plan regarding how to face the 2014 elections from now. I will prepare our party vision, what it will do for the state and people and I myself will visit all sections of society and explain this. We will continue to expose corruption too. I hope people will bestow their confide-nce on my party and our track record, our administration will fetch votes.
Q: It seems that you, along with Congress leaders, targeting Jagan Mohan Reddy, might have brought about the sympathy wave. Will you continue to expose only Jagan's corruption in future?
It is not a sin to expose Jagan’s sins. But we have also concentrated on other issues. You take any public issue, without having a reference to corruption, how is it possible to tackle the public issues? But we know how to balance our approach. We will concentrate on the Congress government's failures in various sectors and also expose other public issues in future. We will enlighten and educate people on the condition of the state. Progress in the state has been stalled for the last few years; it is lagging behind in all fronts at a crucial time. I have a responsibility as a senior politician and I will fulfil that responsibility.
Q: Your party leaders have claimed that you will again clarify your stand on the Telangana statehood issue in view of the party losing its base in Telangana, is it true?
I am just thinking. But there is a change even in Telangana. We had lost deposits in some constituencies last time. But in Station Ghanpur bypoll we had got a good number of votes and even in the Parkal bypoll this time we came third with more than 30,000 votes. There is an improvement. I had told our Telangana leaders that if clarity on the T-issue was needed, let us have a common meeting with leaders of all regions and based on a consensus, we will provide that clarity.
Q: Speculations are on that this time other Opposition parties will move a No-Confidence Motion against Kiran Kumar Reddy's Cabinet and you will be compelled to support it.
Enough is enough. I do not want to be a tool for someone who wants to destabilise the government and ultimately bring some more bypolls. If the government collapses on its own and goes for snap polls it is okay. But on my own I don’t want to give support to such moves by other Opposition parties. We do not want to come to power through backdoors and shortcuts. TD will come to power the right royal way.
Q What is the party's stand on Presidential Election? Whom would you like to support?
This is another confusion. Whom will I choose? I cannot support the UPA candidate because the Congress is heading that. At the same time Pranab Mukherjee is a senior politician, and we just cannot say no. I also cannot support NDA's candidate as the BJP, a communal party, is heading that front. There is no Third Front in the country or a candidate as of now. I do not know what the Left will do. Let me discuss with them and decide. It is also not good for my party to abstain from voting. It is like choosing between the devil and the deep sea. I think it would be better if the President was elected unanimously this time.
courtesy DC