Though floating political parties is not a new phenomenon in Andhra Pradesh, the rate of infant mortality of new political outfits in the state is very high.
In the 58-year history of Andhra Pradesh, several political parties, right from the Reddy Congress to the very recent one, Jana Sena, floated by film actor Pawan Kalyan, have been formed.
Of them only a few such as the TDP and the TRS have managed to survive political tides whereas remaining parties were either merged with the Congress or were consigned to oblivion.
In 1983, Telugu legendary film star NT Rama Rao established the TDP on the plank of Telugu pride. Within nine months of its founding, the TDP was voted to power and NTR became the first non-Congress chief minister of the state.
In the later days, the then second-in-command of the TDP, Nallapureddy Srinivasula Reddy, differed with NTR and floated ‘Seenaiah Sena’. But, the party ended as a damp squib.
In 1994, when N Chandrababu Naidu had dethroned NTR and took over reins of the TDP, party’s NTR faction became TDP (NTR). After NTR’s demise in 1996, Lakshmi Parvati succeeded him as the head of the TDP (NTR), which no longer exists.
At the same time, NTR’s son Harikrishna too had floated another party ‘Anna TDP’, but the party too went into oblivion.
Before 2009 general polls, film actor K Chiranjeevi floated Praja Rajyam on the plank of social justice. Though the party was able to win 18 seats and secure 18 per cent vote share, after the general polls, Chiranjeevi merged the party with the Congress.
After the demise of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy deserted the Congress and set up his own party, the YSRC. The party is now one of the formidable political force in Seemandhra.
Apart from these parties, several other parties such as Praja Santhi Party by evangelist KA Paul and Trilinga Praja Pragati Party by dialogue writer Tripuraneni Maharadhi also appeared on the political landscape of the state. Most of parties have ended up as flash in the pan.
Giving a fillip to the saga of emergence of new parties, if former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had launched Jai Samaikyandhra Party recently, now film actor Pawan Kalyan has set up Jana Sena Party.
After going through the history of new parties in the state, whether it is Kiran or Pawan, they have to nurture their ‘baby’ with utmost care as ‘infant mortality’ rate of new parties in the state is very high.
Disapproving of the floating of new parties right before general polls, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, said, ‘’It is not right time for launching new parties. As people of Seemandhra and Telangana are facing difficult times, new parties will no way help them.’’
Mushroom Growth of Parties in Telangana
As far as Telangana is concerned, the long-cherished wishes of the people of the region to have their own state have given birth to several sub-regional parties. Marri Chenna Reddy’s Telangana Praja Samiti was the first such party. The party which was set up in 1969 to cash in on the Telangana movement, swept the Lok Sabha polls held in 1971, by winning 10 out of 11 seats in Telangana. However, soon after those polls, the TPS was merged with the Congress. In 1995, the then TDP leader P Indra Reddy, who had differences with the TDP boss N Chandrababu Naidu after his coup against NTR, sided with NTR TDP (Lakshmi Parvathi) and later left it only to float Jai Telangana Party. After the 1998 elections, Indra Reddy merged his JTP with the Congress.
In 2001, K Chandrasekhara Rao, who had quit the TDP, launched the TRS with a sole aim of bringing statehood to Telangana. At the same time, former BJP leader Ale Narendra set up Telangana Sadhana Samiti, but, later merged the party with the TRS. Like him, film actor Vijayashanti too floated Talli Telangana on the Telangana plank. But, in the later days, she too merged her party with the TRS.
The then No.2 in the TDP, T Devender Goud, raised a banner of revolt against Naidu over Telangana and launched his own outfit, Nava Telangana Praja Party, prior to the 2009 polls. But, later , he merged his party with the then Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam. MRPS founder Manda Krishna Madiga recently floated Mahajana Socialist Party with the slogan of establishing egalitarian society in T-state.