Double Trouble

A pall of gloom pervades Lakshmi Parvathi’s NTR Telugu Desam camp. Butstrangely, it is not all smiles in the Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party either.Parvathi’s residence (the late NTR’s) in Banjara Hills looks deserted as moreand more legislators leave her camp to join the ruling TDP headed by Naidu. Naidu has hisown problems with NTR’s son Harikrishna raising the banner of  revolt againsthis decision to align with the proposed Janata Dal led-Congress backed United Frontgovernment at the Centre.

In days to come, the depleted Parvathi faction will be left with just threelegislators, G.M. Naidu, G.B. Choudhary and D. Rajasekhara Nehru (all ministers in the NTRcabinet), as the doors of the Naidu faction shut permanently for them.

As for Naidu, his jubilation at winning the elections and at playing kingmaker in theformation of a Third Front government is proving short-lived. At the Centre, there isevery likelihood of fresh elections in the none-too-distant future as there’s noclear mandate for any party to head a government. At the regional level, the challengecomes from Harikrishna, newly elected MLA from Hindpur, who is claiming to be the"truer inheritor of NTR’s legacy".

In his much-publicised ‘open letter’ to Naidu, Harikrishna questioned the T DP’s unilateral decision to oppose the Vajpaywee government and support a Third Front  attempt backed by Congress. "The Telugu Desam was formed by my father to fightthe Congress . Don’t you think that you have deviated from the principles that myfather laid down?" he asked. "Who did you consult before admitting those whocrossed over f rom the Parvathi faction," he wanted to know. Naidu, who was campingin Delhi, was instantly forced to back down by saying that the "admission of the 16legislators is not final".

At present, Naidu is pressing on with his objective of finishing off hisstep-mother-in-law politically. Parvathi, whose coterie lacks the credibility enjoyed bysome of Naidu’s men, has also had to contend with the Nandamuri family’spropaganda against her.

However, she blames her poor showing at the hustings on the chief minister’s"undemocratic" tactics. Says she: "People are aware of the dubious methodsthat Naidu employed to win 16 Lok Sabha seats." Parvathi demands that her chargesagainst Naidu be verified by "an impartial probe by either the Election Commission orthe Centre to check the number of telephone calls that the chief minister made tobureaucrats and policemen drafted for poll duty on election days". But Parvathi alsoaccuses the EC of having acted "unfairly" by denying her party the"cycle" symbol. "My rival derived maximum benefit from this."

The Parvathi faction received its biggest setback recently when its working presidentand NTR’s second son-in-law, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, MP, quit the party.Rao’s complaint was Parvathi’s alleged failure to ensure his smooth election tothe Rajya Sabha in the recent biennial elections. He narrowly escaped defeat at the handsof Congress-backed independent T.Venkataram Reddy, editor of Deccan Chronicle.

However, Parvathi remains unfazed. " There is no death in politics," shesays, confident of bouncing back to the centrestage sooner rather than later. "Lookat Karunanidhi’s DMK in Tamil Nadu, how it has bounced back to power," shepoints out. NTR ’s widow is now determined to rebuild the party from the grassroots,revamp the set-up and introduce into the party new faces who are willing to serveselflessly. "I am confident that there are many who are wedded to the ideals of their‘Anna’ (big brother) NTR. I seek their help to rebuild the party cadre,"she says optimistically.

The optimism may not be ill-founded. Harikrishna’s letter is viewed as thebeginning of the parting of ways in the Naidu faction. Harikrishna is suspicious ofNaidu’s intentions, and feels he wants to cut him down to size. "Naidu ismistaken if he feels I won the byelections because of him and his government’spolicies. I won because I am the proud son of N.T. Rama Rao," says Harikrishna.

Parvathi’s supporters are confident that the entire rank and file of the rulingNaidu faction will get embroiled in the ongoing war set off by Harikrishna, with thelatter emerging the immediate winner. And if there’s a split, Parvathi will gain. Orso she hopes.