Though the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did not contest the Assembly elections in Telangana, its flags drew the attention of people at Congress’ victory celebrations here on Sunday.
TDP supporters carrying party flags joined the Congress workers in the celebrations, both at the house of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A. Revanth Reddy, and Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan.
Incidentally, Revanth Reddy was with the TDP before joining the Congress.
It was an interesting sight as for the first time the TDP stayed away from the Assembly elections in Telangana.
The TDP had cited the arrest of its supremo and former Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh in connection with the AP Skill Development Corporation scam as the reason for staying away from Telangana polls.
In 2018, the TDP had contested the Assembly elections in Telangana in alliance with the Congress. However, the alliance had faced a crushing defeat, and the TDP could win just two seats. Later, both the MLAs defected to TRS (now BRS).
Political analysts believe that TDP’s traditional supporters, including voters hailing from Andhra Pradesh and settled in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana, voted for the Congress this time.
It is also interesting to note that the TDP supporters in Telangana were not happy with the curbs imposed by the BRS government on protests against Naidu’s arrest in Hyderabad.