Secret survey by Babu: TDP-TRS alliance will benefit both the parties in Telangana

July 18, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, July 17: An electoral alliance between the Telugu Desam and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi will help both the political parties bringing in as many as 70 Assembly seats in the backward region, reveals a survey conducted by the Telugu Desam leadership.
Telugu Desam president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has conducted a survey in Telangana using the students and the staff of a private corporate college chain. The survey was carried out to find the electoral prospects of the Telugu Desam if it contested on its own and the number of seats the party would get if it joined hands with the rival Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
The survey also covered the electoral prospects of film actor Chiranjeevi's proposed political party. According to NTR Bhavan sources, the survey revealed that the TD-TRS combine will win at least 70 seats in Telangana region. Both the political parties combined now have less than 20 seats.
The TD's survey pointed out that the proposed political party of Chiranjeevi will not have much impact on the electoral scene of Telangana. Though Chandrababu Naidu is interested in aligning with the Left, he did not include the electoral prospects of the Communists in the survey.
Chandrababu Naidu is known for conducting secret surveys on various political developments including electoral prospects. When he was in power, he conducted a secret survey on the performance of his Cabinet colleagues and corruption in government offices. Though Chandrababu Naidu has often admitted having ordered secret surveys, he did not choose to reveal the results officials. The results were always "leaked" to the media by TD leaders.
The TD supremo ordered the latest survey using the staff and students of a corporate college for reliability and accuracy. Since the surveyors are not affiliated to any political party, the TD leader hoped that he would get a neutral picture without political overtones. This is the second time that Chandrababu Naidu had utilised the services of the corporate college in the last four years. The TD's survey gains significance in the wake of discussion in the party circles about the need for alliance with the TRS to check the growth of Nava Telangana Praja Party formed recently by former TD leader T Devendar Goud.