Telugu Desam changing its secular ideology to Hindutva

The Telugu Desam is changing its colours from yellow to orange. The party which followed a pro-Telugu ideology for the past 38 years with a secular stand as a party that belongs to all communities with a pro-business/development attitude is turning a saviour of the Hindu religion, strongly protesting attacks on Hindu religious places for the past few days in AP.

Calling upon the Hindu community to perform a week-long devotional protest from September 13 against the Antarvedi incident, the TD is seeking protection of the Hindu religion donning the role of Hindu protector and saviour.

Senior political analysts maintain that the TD is planning to restrain the BJP from strengthening its base in AP by hijacking the Hindutva ideology of saffron party. They recall that TD launched a massive campaign on Antarvedi by sending party leaders and cadres to the spot, appointed a fact-finding committee and further put the demand of CBI inquiry before the BJP started any agitation.

Analysts point out that Naidu, Lokesh and most party leaders have now called for week-long pujas to gather the support of the conventional Hindu community. They recalled that earlier there was no chance for the BJP to strengthen its base in AP due to its alliance with TD and further due to the secret cooperation of saffron leaders and the yellow party.

After Somu Veerraju assumed charge, the BJP has started to grab the main opposition party position from TD, analysts feel that Naidu, with 40 years of experience, has started a counter- strategy by hijacking the Hindutva ideology of BJP claiming himself as the protector of the Hindu religion and damaging the saffron party by attracting Hindutva supporters.

TD politburo member, Varla Ramaiah, called Hindus to conduct pujas from Sunday to Saturday against attacks on Hindu temples and sought protection for Hindus. He lamented that 100 above incidents damaging Hindu sentiments have unfolded in the state after the YSRC assumed power.

Former TD MLA, Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, said that besides performing pujas, TD cadres will conduct protests in front of the surya devalayam (sun temple) on Sunday, Shiva temples on Monday, Anjaneyaswamy temples on Tuesday, Ayyappa temples on Wednesday, Sai Baba temples on Thursday, Ammavari devasthanams on Friday and Vishnu temples on Saturday.  

He demanded that the government explain why a series of attacks took place only after YSRC came to power. He further demanded that Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, should explain why there were no arrests being made in connection with the attacks on the temples, hinting at the allegation that the YSRC is a pro-Christian party as Jagan is Christian.