Till the declaration of results for the general elections on May 23, Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu had run from one state to another and to New Delhi frequently in the name of consolidating the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party political parties.
The media used to give so much hype to Naidu for his attempts to build up an anti-BJP front at the national level and predict that he would play the role of king maker after the election results.
But with the BJP retuning to power with a thumping majority and all the opposition parties including the Congress facing a humiliating defeat, Naidu’s dreams of playing a big role at the national level had been shattered.
He himself had to face an ignominious defeat in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections with his party getting just 23 assembly seats.
That does not mean Naidu should forget the political parties with him he had been in touch with them till recently.
It is his responsibility to come to their rescue if there is a crisis in the parties.
Even if the TDP is not in a position to do anything, he should at least make a statement in support of such parties.
Take for instance, the ongoing developments in Karnataka.
The Janata Dal (S) and the Congress coalition government plunged into crisis due to alleged split in their MLAs engineered by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The coalition is on the verge of collapse due to resignation of nearly 15 MLAs.
All the major political parties in the country condemned the attempts of the BJP in creating split in the coalition partners and sponsoring the camp politics of the rebel MLAs. But Naidu has not uttered a word so far.
He seems to have thought he has nothing do with the Karnataka politics at all.
Similarly, there was no statement from the TDP chief over the breaking-up of 10 MLAs from the Congress in Goa and their merger with the BJP.
“Till the other day, Naidu used to behave as if JD (S) chief Deve Gowda was his bosom friend and Rahul Gandhi was his new found friend. Why did he suddenly go silent when the friends are in crisis?” an analyst asked.