Fearing an imminent defeat in the ensuing elections in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP has embarked on a devious strategy with a targeted campaign against a few senior police officers of the state. As part of this plan, complaints were being lodged with the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking action against a few Superintendents of Police (SPs) and senior police officials. As a precursor, false narratives are being peddled by the opposition party’s sympathisers on social media platforms to give the impression that these officials have connived to work for the advantage of the ruling party.

This blitz campaign was intensified particularly in the aftermath of the recent public meeting of the opposition alliance in Chilakaluripet which ended as a flop show due to a series of their failures in organising the event. The meeting was marred by the unruly behaviour of the alliance activists whose ‘over-exuberance’ resulted in the snapping of cables of the mic control panel. This caused frequent disruptions to the public address system, even during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, thereby causing huge embarrassment to the organisers.

Brushing their own failures conveniently under the carpet, the TDP leaders have started a blame game, holding the police responsible for the disaster and threatening to petition the ECI against Palnadu SP Ravishankar Reddy. This comes close on the heels of similar complaints lodged with the election body against a few other SPs in the state. The TDP is demanding the transfer of these police officers under the pretext that they could hamper a free and fair electioneering of the opposition parties while working in favour of the ruling YSRCP.

Astonishingly, the TDP appears to be targetting the police officers belonging to a particular community to attach unwarranted ‘casteist’ motives. As things stand, some of the primary targets of the opposition party’s bluster campaign are Ravishankar Reddy (Palnadu SP), Raghuveera Reddy (Nandyal SP) and Parameswar Reddy (Prakasam SP). Besides them, the TDP has already named Andhra Pradesh DGP Rajendranath Reddy, intelligence chief PSR Anjaneyulu and Guntur IG Balaraju in its complaints to the ECI as part of the campaign for their transfer.

The opposition party is also trying hard to implicate Tirumaleswara Reddy (Nellore SP) and SV Madhava Reddy (Satyasai district) in its efforts to exert pressure on the election body and eventually get them shunted out of their current positions. Perfectly timed with this, a well-orchestrated smear campaign is also being carried out against these police officials by the members of the iTDP, which has acquired the notoriety of being the party’s ‘social media militia’. Efforts are being made to implant a false perception that these officials are on the verge of being transferred and that the ECI will be taking the action any minute.

For those following the TDP’s modus operandi, this whole campaign bears the classic footprints of a Chandrababu Naidu-style election-time operation, especially when he is in opposition. The intention behind the TDP’s latest ploy to kick up dust and disrupt the functioning of the official machinery is certainly not without its political connotations.

Now that he managed to coax the BJP into the alliance mix, Chandrababu Naidu is eyeing a golden opportunity to extract greater support from the NDA-ruled Centre. Leveraging this factor, he is hoping to derive as much advantage as possible, especially by exerting pressure first on the ECI, influencing its decision-making and finally ensuring favourable results from it. Having an ally in BJP which virtually calls the shots in Delhi, the TDP chief is punting on this big gamble, especially with regard to its demand on the transfer of district SPs in Andhra Pradesh.

In this context, one is reminded of Chandrababu Naidu’s justification, a few weeks ago, as to why his party was hankering for an alliance with the BJP which received less than one percent vote share in the 2019 elections in the state. Without batting an eyelid, the wily leader quipped then that being part of the NDA would always be advantageous to his party, especially in obtaining favourable decisions from the ECI during the election season.

And the latest blitzkrieg of the TDP peddling a narrative built on falsehoods against the official machinery of the state proves that he is certainly making his moves in that direction..!