In June 2019, the Telugu Desam Party was lookLing at political oblivion Months after leaving the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, it lost power in the Assembly elections and its share in the Lok Sabha was reduced from 15 Members of Parliament to just three. Five years later, the. N. Chandra Babu-led TDP has emerged as the kingmaker in Delhi while returning to power in Andhra.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to Shantanu Singh, the director of Showtime Consulting, a political consultancy that worked with TDP to bring it back to power. Edited excerpts.
Q: Showtime Consultancy started working with the TDP in 2019. This was after the party was reduced to 23 Assembly seats and three Lok Sabha MPs.
What was the mandate that was given to you by Nara Chandrababu Naidu? A: He wanted us to offer his party a professional analysis on what went wrong in 2019 and chart a winning strategy.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu has been a politician for the last four decades, with an excellent growth track record.
He is hailed as a visionary leader and is known internationally. Be it in power or in opposition, he never stopped thinking of the betterment of the people of his state and wished to continue to do more for them. Our focus was to identify and address the factors that did not resonate with the people of the state the last time. At the same time, we maintained our core goal of connecting with the people and working on their concerns, addressing them and most importantly sending out the message that TDP truly represents the aspirations of the people.
Q: TDP had a big electoral setback in 2019. Moreover, Jagan Mohan Reddy was being assisted by I-PAC (Indian-Political Action Committee). How big was the challenge? A: The challenge was enormous as YSRCP had won big in 2019 decimating TDP to a mere 25 in the Assembly. At the time, TDP did not have an experienced political consultancy backing it.
This story is from the June 09, 2024 edition of The Sunday Guardian.
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This story is from the June 09, 2024 edition of The Sunday Guardian.
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