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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Politics of twists & turns
Of all the MPs who took part in the confidence motion that the UPA government won by 19 votes in the Lok Sabha about 10 days ago, his case is the weirdest. While the members who defied the respective party whips were understandably expelled, D K Adikesavulu Naidu, the TDP MP from Chittoor, was expelled from the party for ‘obeying’ the whip and voting against the motion. Days later, what happened in the run-up to the trust vote and during the voting is still a whodunnit waiting to be cracked.
If TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had put a tail behind Adikesavulu three days before the voting to keep tabs of his movements, then it is clear that he was a ‘suspect’ from the party’s point of view. The voting too was dramatic, with MIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress minister Renuka Chowdhury physically shielding the MP from TDP members K Yerrannaidu and E Dayakar Rao and help him vote for the confidence motion.
A day later, he was issued a showcause notice and soon after that expelled from the TDP. Chandrababu Naidu maintained that despite the fact that he had voted against the confidence motion, he was expelled because of the drama he caused during the voting which “brought a bad name to the party.” Two days ago, at a press conference in Tirupati, Adikesavulu displayed a faxed copy of his ballot paper showing that he had voted against the motion, and charged that he was expelled from the party because of his caste.
A member of the Kapu community, 67-year-old Adikesavulu is a mechanical engineer and his special interests include ‘setting up medical colleges.’ Professionally, he is the wholesale distributor for UB Group of breweries for Andhra Pradesh and also for a Japanese electronics giant, besides owning several liquor businesses in neighbouring Karnataka. He has also been chairman of TTD. He began his political career in the Congress and rose to become its treasurer. Losing the general elections from Chittoor as a Congress nominee, he shifted loyalties to the TDP and won the Chittoor LS seat in 2004.
Adikesavulu rose to become very close to the TDP chief and has funded party activities like the Mahanadu as well as Naidu’s personal functions like the reception for his son Lokesh in Chittoor. Several reasons are being attributed to Adikesavulu deciding to part ways with Naidu. One, the much speculated political entry of megastar Chiranjeevi into the political arena. Being a Kapu like the megastar and the Rayalaseema region having the community in seizable numbers, hitching on to the new party makes political sense. Two, that he had no future in the TDP because Chittoor LS seat has been reserved for SCs as per the delimitation exercise and with Tirupati LS seat already reserved for SCs, Adikesavulu cannot get a ticket from any party from his native district. Three, that despite giving his heart and soul to the TDP and Naidu, he has not been given the respect that he deserved from the party boss. Four, that his son Sreenivasulu, who is being groomed to enter politics, has an attempt-to-murder case slapped against him in connection with a bid by unidentified men on the life of Congress leader C K Jayachandra Reddy early this year, and remaining in the opposition party will not help him close the case.
While Chiranjeevi is still to launch his party the Congress is desperately wooing him as they rightly consider him to be a ‘prize catch.’ Those close to him say Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron to whom Adikesavulu is said to be well acquainted, convinced him to vote for the UPA in the trust vote. In return, he has been promised a Congress Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka in case nothing works for him in Andhra Pradesh. But one thing is clear. He wants to be an MP from either of the two houses. However, he is still to make up his mind as to whether he would sail with the Congress or wait for Chiranjeevi. If what he told TOI is any indication, it would most probably be the latter. “I will take a decision about my political future after a month,” is what he said.
Adikesavulu’s calculation is that Chiranjeevi would have launched his party by that time. In any case, he still has the Congress to fall back on. Thus, expelled from the TDP in the fag-end of his political career, this rich and powerful liquor baron has several sound options in the waiting. And he has already proved that he would be an asset to whosoever snares him.
If TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had put a tail behind Adikesavulu three days before the voting to keep tabs of his movements, then it is clear that he was a ‘suspect’ from the party’s point of view. The voting too was dramatic, with MIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress minister Renuka Chowdhury physically shielding the MP from TDP members K Yerrannaidu and E Dayakar Rao and help him vote for the confidence motion.
A day later, he was issued a showcause notice and soon after that expelled from the TDP. Chandrababu Naidu maintained that despite the fact that he had voted against the confidence motion, he was expelled because of the drama he caused during the voting which “brought a bad name to the party.” Two days ago, at a press conference in Tirupati, Adikesavulu displayed a faxed copy of his ballot paper showing that he had voted against the motion, and charged that he was expelled from the party because of his caste.
A member of the Kapu community, 67-year-old Adikesavulu is a mechanical engineer and his special interests include ‘setting up medical colleges.’ Professionally, he is the wholesale distributor for UB Group of breweries for Andhra Pradesh and also for a Japanese electronics giant, besides owning several liquor businesses in neighbouring Karnataka. He has also been chairman of TTD. He began his political career in the Congress and rose to become its treasurer. Losing the general elections from Chittoor as a Congress nominee, he shifted loyalties to the TDP and won the Chittoor LS seat in 2004.
Adikesavulu rose to become very close to the TDP chief and has funded party activities like the Mahanadu as well as Naidu’s personal functions like the reception for his son Lokesh in Chittoor. Several reasons are being attributed to Adikesavulu deciding to part ways with Naidu. One, the much speculated political entry of megastar Chiranjeevi into the political arena. Being a Kapu like the megastar and the Rayalaseema region having the community in seizable numbers, hitching on to the new party makes political sense. Two, that he had no future in the TDP because Chittoor LS seat has been reserved for SCs as per the delimitation exercise and with Tirupati LS seat already reserved for SCs, Adikesavulu cannot get a ticket from any party from his native district. Three, that despite giving his heart and soul to the TDP and Naidu, he has not been given the respect that he deserved from the party boss. Four, that his son Sreenivasulu, who is being groomed to enter politics, has an attempt-to-murder case slapped against him in connection with a bid by unidentified men on the life of Congress leader C K Jayachandra Reddy early this year, and remaining in the opposition party will not help him close the case.
While Chiranjeevi is still to launch his party the Congress is desperately wooing him as they rightly consider him to be a ‘prize catch.’ Those close to him say Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron to whom Adikesavulu is said to be well acquainted, convinced him to vote for the UPA in the trust vote. In return, he has been promised a Congress Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka in case nothing works for him in Andhra Pradesh. But one thing is clear. He wants to be an MP from either of the two houses. However, he is still to make up his mind as to whether he would sail with the Congress or wait for Chiranjeevi. If what he told TOI is any indication, it would most probably be the latter. “I will take a decision about my political future after a month,” is what he said.
Adikesavulu’s calculation is that Chiranjeevi would have launched his party by that time. In any case, he still has the Congress to fall back on. Thus, expelled from the TDP in the fag-end of his political career, this rich and powerful liquor baron has several sound options in the waiting. And he has already proved that he would be an asset to whosoever snares him.
Labels: A.P.Politics
# posted by gopi @ 7:21 AM 
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