Hyderabad: TDP`s poll campaign refrain that only Chandrababu Naidu can develop residual state of Andhra Pradesh appeared to be the lone clinching factor in the party`s stupendous poll victory in Seemandhra.
The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh were held in rather extraordinary circumstances as the state, for all practical purposes, remained divided.
Having reconciled to the state`s bifurcation, people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions were determined not only to teach a lesson to Congress but also to turn the truncated region into a well-developed state and wanted a leader who could steer it on the desired path.
The elections presented them two options in this regard: Chandrababu and YSR Congress Party`s YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
People seem to have opted for Chandrababu, given his previous track record as Chief Minister under whom Andhra Pradesh witnessed rapid development on many fronts between 1995 and 2004.
But victory did not come that easily for the TDP supremo as he faced a formidable challenger in Jagan in the last three years even as Congress gradually got marginalized.
Had the elections been held a year or two earlier, Chandrababu would surely have been out of contention but the state division issue, in a way, helped him bounce back.
Teaming up with BJP came in handy for TDP since NDA`s victory under Narendra Modi was deemed to be certain.
Also, Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan, who floated his own Jana Sena Party, supported Modi and Chandrababu and extensively campaigned for the TDP-BJP combine. He aggressively portrayed Jagan as the evil force that could only harm the interests of the new state and take it nowhere.
`Modi wave` and `Pawanism` served as good backup for TDP and helped consolidate the youth voter base for the combine.
Chandrababu, who has been winning his Kuppam Assembly seat since 1989, has retained the segment this time also by a margin of over 47,000 votes.
The TDP-NDA equations between 1998 and 2004 worked in Chandrababu`s favour and now the expectations are that he will extract all goodies from the Centre to put development on fast-track mode in the new state.
