While TDP is contesting 269 of the 294 assembly seats leaving 25 to BJP, it is in contention for 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state leaving its ally to contest only eight. The Congress, which has 26 and 22 positions in the outgoing assembly and Lok Sabha respectively, is in the fray for all the seats.

In addition is the four-party combine of the Anna-TDP, the Left parties, RJD and RPI which have worked out a seat-sharing pact. But their presence could at best be a token one with many unknown faces in the fray leaving the battle mostly limited to the mainline parties.

However, it is worth mentioning that this is the first time that Left parties which had been allied with TDP for the past 15 years, have broken off with NChandrababu Naidu and pitched their tent with late NT Rama Rao's son Nandamuri Harikrishna who is heading the breakaway Anna-TDP. The present elections are also significant considering that this is the first time the TDP is going to the people without the towering presence of its founder.

Though Naidu has sought to make his performance the main plank on which to seek a mandate, his truck with BJP itself appears to have overshadowed the campaign resulting in an alienation of the minority community votes which plays a major role in many of the Telangana and some Rayalseema constituencies.

The minorities who constitute more than of 10 per cent of the total electorate in the state could tilt the balance in several key constituencies with the Congress too trying to capitalize on the arrangement between its two rival parties dubbing it opportunistic.

Apart from the state objective of defeating the Congress, Naidu has been justifying the pact by impressing upon the people of its inevitability considering theneed to have more TDP MPs in the Lok Sabha if the state had to progress.

Naidu has also been highlighting his Janmabhoomi and other welfare programmes while his success in putting the state on the international map as a favoured investment destination is also figuring in the campaign. However, everything does not seem to be too well either between the two partners who till recently were maintaining their pact as only a seat-sharing arrangement, but went ahead with joint campaigning.

The manner in which Naidu kept the state BJP on the tenterhooks has ultimately rubbed the cadres the wrong way. Its impact could be felt during the campaign and voting patterns particularly where the assembly segments are concerned.

The Congress seems to be having it easy, as of now, with the party going whole hog on populist promises like subsidised rice, free farm power, housing for the poor and white cards for the urban poor and subsidised gas for all poor.

Added to it is the emotive presence of Indiramma'sdaughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi who kicked off the Congress campaign in the state from Mahbubnagar on August 23 to a massive response.

Though Naidu appears to be on the back foot at the moment, it is perhaps too early to write him off considering his past record at bouncing back into competition. He had proven all skeptics wrong in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections by winning 17 seats. Perhaps one will have to wait for the first phase of polls on September 5 before reaching any conclusions as to the likely outcome of the crucial elections in the state.