No mass desertions for Cong in Seemandhra

A clearer picture is expected to emerge by March 12 when Kiran is planning to hold a rally marking the foundation of his new party, on how many leaders from Congress or TDP are keen to join the party.

It may be recalled that a bunch of ex-ministers, who moved very closely with Kiran during his last minute crusade against the state division had in fact joined Telugu Desam Party headed by N Chandrababu Naidu.

Their political preferences are said to have been largely influenced by the voter-base enjoyed by TDP in their respective districts such as Guntur, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam. For instance, Galla Aruna Kumari, a former minister in Kiran's cabinet has joined TDP along with her son and Amara Raja Batteries managing director Jay Galla after she had got the assurance that her son would be given Guntur Lok Sabha ticket.

Those associated with Kiran Kumar say that their leader also was not keen on bringing the sitting MLAs into the party fold owing the baggage they carry in terms of anti-incumbency. His critics claim the opposite stating that most of the MLAs were not comfortable with Kiran when he was in the office and therefore they do not prefer to join his party.

In 2009 elections Congress won around 90 MLA seats and 21 MP seats in Seemandhra region. Of them close to 20 MLAs had already switched their loyalties to YSR Congress, some to the TDP. Some of the TDP MLAs joined the YSR Congress and leaders like Sabbam Hari, Anakapalli MP had parted ways with YSR Congress before getting closer to Kiran Kumar.

"I told my guru to stay put in the Congress party and face the impending defeat instead of facing the same fate after joining some other political entity," former minister and the Kiran's newfound bete noire Dokka Manikya Varaprasad said a couple of days back while referring to his conversation with the influential businessman-politician Rayapati Sambasiva Rao.

Rao was among the six MPs expelled by the Congress. He was also considered to be one of the key persons of the Kiran's party. However he was conspicuous by his absence at the time of the announcement the party on Thursday. Undavalli Arun Kumar, who belongs to the expelled group of MPs, who had also advised Kiran during the anti-bifurcation campaign, is now trying to mend fences with Congress party, according to the insiders.

Kiran camp too is not in the illusion of any big gains in the elections. " A couple of MP seats and 25-30 assembly segments is what the party is targeting to win," a source in the know told Business Standard.

Meanwhile, Union Minister D Purandeswari's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too could not create any ripple effect in the Congress party. Moreover, the MLAs and the Congress cadre from Visakhapatnam parliamentary constituency made a very critical remarks about her decision to leave the party.

The rest of the 8-odd Union Ministers from Seemandhra have just remained calm after the AP Reorganisation Bill was passed in the Parliament, indicating no further damage to the Congress party.

The elections declared for both the urban and the rural local bodies just a month ahead of the general elections due to the court orders had also created a peculiar situation in Seemandhra. Irrespective of the bitterness being generated against the major political parties a massive polarisation is expected to happen on the existing party lines as these elections are fought on party symbols.

"The local body election may also help bring down the anger levels of the people against the Congress, which is projected as the prime culprit of the bifurcation. If some one chose to vote against the Congress candidate in these elections he or she may not willing to repeat the same in the general elections," reasoned a Congress leader from Seemandhra.