VIJAYAWADA: Even as the opposition TDP claimed the results of the MPTC and ZPTC elections have nothing to do with its future prospects, it hurt the morale of the cadre as many of them are of the view that it would have been better had the party leadership not taken the decision to boycott the elections at the last minute.
“It is ridiculous on the part of the party leadership to take such a decision knowing the fact that the party candidates should have to remain in fray as there was no time for withdrawal of nominations,” a TDP leader told TNIE.
Stating that the decision of the TDP hurt the low-level and middle-level cadre, who participated in the MPTC and ZPTC election campaigns, a senior party leader felt that decision had a huge impact on the results, which were announced Sunday.
In fact, several candidates had spent money in the elections for about a year. During the outbreak of Covid in March, 2020, the contestants extended a helping hand to the needy and did everything possible to win the hearts of people. But the sudden decision of the party just before the polling date left the cadre in the lurch, another TDP leader opined.
“The party leadership thought it is unnecessary to spend its resources in the elections as it will not yield any result because the ruling YSRC misused the official machinery. But withdrawing from the fray at the eleventh hour caused heartburn to the contestants. While some of them left the contest without running any campaign, many put all their efforts to win the elections. The party debacle in Kuppam, the constituency represented by party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, came as a shock to the party cadre,” the leader observed, adding that such a hasty decision will lead to the cadre losing confidence in the party leadership.
Somireddy defends decision
However, senior TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy defended the decision of the party to boycott the ZPTC/MPTC elections. He described as ‘laughable’ the comments made by the YSRC ministers after the parishad polls victory.
He reminded the ministers and the YSRC MLAs that the TDP had boycotted the elections after its representation against the election irregularities fell on deaf ears. “The whole world knew how the ruling YSRC resorted to threats, intimidation and forced unanimous results in many places. They misused the police and official machinery without any shame,” the senior TDP leader alleged.
He said that in 2017, when the TDP was in power, MLC elections were held in nine seats and the YSRC contested in just three seats and the TDP won all the nine seats. “The TDP won Kadapa MLC seat, Nandyal by-election and Guntur and Krishna MLC elections in 2015. The TDP won 39 out of the total 49 seats in the Kakinada Corporation polls. The TDP won all these elections by impressing upon the people its development and welfare activities. Whereas, the ruling YSRC used threats and intimidation against the voters and the political rivals as they have done nothing for the people,” he alleged.