TDP seeks to take fight to TRS camp in do-or-die poll battle

Under vitriolic attack from caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on its President N Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party is putting up a brave front in the Telangana Assembly polls.

The December seven election to the 119-member Telangana Assembly is seen in some quarters as a "do-or-die" political battle for the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister in the country's youngest state.

Senior TDP politburo member Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy sees Rao's repeated attacks on Naidu as a "panic reaction".

"On September six (after the Assembly was dissolved), he (Rao) said TDP has a mere 0.2 per cent vote share in Telangana. Now, he (Rao) is devoting 50 per cent of his speech time criticising Naidu and TDP. It shows his panic reaction and frustration," Reddy told PTI.

The Congress, the TDP, the Telananga Jana Samiti (TJS) and the Communist party of India have forged an alliance to take on the ruling TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti).

In alliance with the BJP, the TDP had bagged 15 seats with a vote share of 14.7 per cent in the 2014 elections.

In the ongoing election campaign, Rao and TRS leaders have repeatedly chosen to project the TDP as an "anti-Telangana party" and Naidu as the one who had tried to put hurdles in Telangana's development.

If the Congress-led alliance comes to power in Telangana, they have alleged that Naidu would call the shots.

The TDP has seen 13 of its Telangana MLAs deserting the party -- 12 defecting to the TRS and one to the Congress. But Reddy asserted that the party and its cadre are intact in Telangana.

"We are confident of winning the 13 seats that we are contesting now," he said.

As chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Naidu had strived hard for all-round development of Hyderabad, particularly the information technology sector, Reddy said.

"Sixty-four per cent of Telangana's income is from Hyderabad only. This (pro-development, pro-investment) atmosphere is created by Naidu (during his tenure as CM)," he said.