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Naidu unsure of 7 MPs' loyalty

Shireen in Hyderabad

Jolted by the defection of Telugu Desam Party Lok Sabha member Satrucherla Vijayarama Raju to the Congress, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu has been monitoring the situation closely.

It was reportedly at Naidu's instance that the party MPs had organised a noisy demonstration at the Congress headquarters in Delhi on Tuesday night to protest against Raju's defection. Again, it was Naidu who had 'pulled the strings' to make Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu (who hails from Andhra Pradesh) lash out against the Congress for indulging in 'horse trading'. The Lok Sabha proceedings too were disrupted yesterday as the Raju issue rocked the House.

However, despite such show of strength, Chandrababu Naidu is not very sure of the loyalty of the remaining 11 Lok Sabha members of the party, according to TDP sources.

He has reportedly been trying to win over the 'fence-sitters' by offering to clear their requests regarding development and welfare activities in their constituencies.

In recent days, the chief minister has held one-to-one meetings with his party MPs or kept in constant touch with them over phone to keep them in good humour and away from the reach of the Congress poachers.

The TDP chief has been particularly keen on placating party MP from Nandyal, Bhooma Nagi Reddy, whose father-in-law S V Subba Reddy was dropped from the state cabinet on October 1 last year. Nagi Reddy has reportedly been assured of a fair deal.

Even before the Raju episode surfaced, the rumour mills in both the Telugu Desam Party and the Congress were agog with the talk of defections and a possible split in the Telugu Desam parliamentary party, like it happened in March 1992, when six MPs broke away from the party to extend support to the then Congress government headed by P V Narasimha Rao.

Congress circles reveal that the party leaders are in touch with some TDP MPs, particularly those who are either amenable to allurements or have some axe to grind against the chief minister.

The Congress hit-list includes at least half a dozen TDP MPs -- S Venugopalachary (former Union minister in the United Front governments and Adilabad MP), G Ganga Reddy (Nizamabad), Chada Suresh Reddy (Hanamkonda), Bhooma Nagi Reddy (Nandyal), N Ramakrishna Reddy (Chittoor) and Ajmeera Chandulal (Warangal).

According to TDP sources, Ch Suguna Kumari (Peddapalli) was also contacted.

The TDP leadership does not have any doubts about the loyalty of four MPs: Lok Sabha Speaker Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi (Amalapuram), K Yerran Naidu (Srikakulam), K Pydithalli Naidu (Bobbili) and M Rajaiah (Siddipet), who are unlikely to leave the TDP camp in any eventuality.

A senior TDP leader felt that the scare among the TDP MPs about their future was created by the survey conducted by Eenadu Telugu daily which had predicted last month that the Congress would sweep the Lok Sabha polls, whenever they are held, by bagging 35 to 38 seats out of 42 in Andhra Pradesh.

The survey findings, coming as they did from a newspaper group that has been a steadfast supporter of the TDP and Naidu, had sown doubts in the minds of the TDP members who started looking for greener pastures when a crisis suddenly erupted in Delhi last week.

The TDP leadership is apparently pursuing the carrot-and-stick policy vis-a-vis the party MPs now. The chief minister has been giving them a pep talk besides assuring that their 'needs and demands' would be taken care of. They are also being warned that they would not have any political future if they desert the party at this stage.

Naidu and his party functionaries have said that the Congress would have to pay a very heavy price in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state as its credibility has nosedived after the recent Delhi developments leading to the fall of the BJP-led coalition government.

To what extent Naidu's assurances have convinced the fence-sitters remains to be seen. However, TDP sources admit that the next three days will be crucial to the party's unity.

The TD parliamentary party is meeting today to take a decision on what disciplinary action should be taken against Raju.

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