Amid Andhra politics reconfiguration, signs of a thaw in Chandrababu Naidu-Purandeswari ties

Though the two have maintained a distance since Naidu’s 1995 coup to take control of the TDP, after the NDA’s win in Andhra there are hints of a shift in the dynamics between the two.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Andhra Pradesh BJP president Dr Daggubati Purandeswari who is also Naidu’s sister-in-law.

There are signs of a thaw in the relationship between TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and his sister-in-law, BJP leader Purandeswari.(PTI/ FB).

With the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returning to power for a third term and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) emerging as a key pillar of the ruling coalition, there are signs of a thaw in the relationship between TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Andhra Pradesh BJP president Dr Daggubati Purandeswari who is also Naidu’s sister-in-law.

Purandeswari, 65, has held Naidu’s 1995 coup responsible for the downfall of her father and TDP founder N T Rama Rao and has always kept away from him. But on June 5, a day after the NDA’s landslide win in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu thanked Purandeswari for her support. At the NDA meeting in New Delhi too, Naidu acknowledged Purandeswari’s role in the state elections and thanked her again.

“Political allegiances may be different but there are strong family ties. While Purandeswari is Chandrababu’s sister-in-law, her brother N Balakrishna is a TDP MLA from Hindupur and is very close to Naidu. They are all getting back together,” said a TDP leader.

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Andhra BJP co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar said, “BJP and Purandeswari helped the alliance to win the election. Naidu is rightly acknowledging it.”

While Purandeswari’s husband Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao, a former five-time TDP MLA, sided with Naidu in the 1995 coup, Purandeswarikept away from it. The episode split NTR’s family. While most of NTR’s sons and daughters sided with Naidu, they too maintained a distance.

Purandeswari joined the Congress in 2000 and avoided too much presence in state politics, not contesting Assembly elections. The two times she was elected MP, in 2004 and 2009 from Bapatla and Visakhapatnam respectively, Punrandeswari fought against TDP candidates. But once elected, kept to herself as she was in the Union Cabinet and spent most of the time in New Delhi. Purandeswari quit the Congress in protest against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in March 2014 and joined the BJP. She contested from Rajampet Lok Sabha seat that year but lost. This time. she has been elected from the Rajahmundry Lok Sabha seat.

For years, Naidu and Purandeswari maintained a distance. Even at family functions, they arrived and left at different times to the extent possible. Purandeswari was appointed Andhra BJP president last year. But, despite the BJP becoming a partner, they both did not campaign together and were seen together only when senior BJP leaders addressed public meetings. Though the BJP leader kept a distance from the TDP, which was trying to return to the NDA fold for the better part of last year, she spoke for the first time after Naidu was arrested in the alleged AP Skill Development Corporation scam last September, condemning his arrest.

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“Naidu was trying to get back into the BJP and Pawan Kalyan (JanaSena Party chief and actor) was trying to convince the BJP leadership but Purandeswari did not express any opinion publicly,’’ said a TDP leader.

Sources said although BJP had won eight Assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu might not want Purandeswari’s interference in state politics. With NTR’s daughter heading the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu at the helm as CM, and the rise of Pawan Kalyan as a politician, the dynamics in the state have changed and it is a powerful combination expected to hold sway in the state as well as in Hyderabad. Pawan Kalyan’s rise and election to the Assembly brings the leading family of Tollywood — as the Telugu film industry is known — into Andhra politics. Pawan’s elder brother is “megastar” K Chiranjeevi while another brother, Nagababu, is eyeing a role in the state. Pawan Kalyan has the support of nearly 10 extended family members who are in the film industry. Popular “Pushpa” actor Allu Arjun is also related to Pawan Kalyan’s family.