The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday said it will not snap ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday said it will not snap ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The assertion comes amid speculation that the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh might rethink its ties with the BJP in view of its disappointment over allocation of funds to the state in the Union Budget.
"The TDP will not break its alliance with the BJP-led NDA," Party leader and Union minister Y S Chowdary said after a meeting of party MPs and senior leaders with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here this afternoon.
Earlier, it was reported that BJP President Amit Shah spoke to Naidu on Sunday, asking him not to break away from the NDA alliance after the latter expressed ‘disappointment’ in the Union Budget 2018-19. According to an NDTV report, sources close to the BJP president said that Shah called Naidu and asked him not to take ‘tough decisions’. However, Chowdary denied the report saying that Naidu had not spoken to either Shah or Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray over a possible alliance.
Earlier, in an interview with News 18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Centre was ‘separately implementing’ the Andhra Pradesh reorganisation package. “It has nothing to do with the budget. We will fulfill all that has been promised to the people of Andhra Pradesh,” Jaitley was quoted as saying.
On Sunday morning, Naidu had held a meeting with his party’s MPs, and MLAs in Amaravati to review the party’s ties with the BJP
"We discussed the budget. A political alliance is completely different from the development of a state,” party leader K Rammohan Rao told the media later.
"Whatever the Chief Minister decides we will stand by it, but we are not happy with the BJP budget allotted to Andhra Pradesh. The TDP MPs are ready to resign, but we are bound by the Chief Minister's decision," said Pandula Ravindra Babu, TDP MP from Amalapuram while speaking to ANI.
An upset TDP pitched its senior leader and union minister Y S Chowdhary to tell the media in no uncertain terms that it was unhappy over no monetary allocation for Andhra Pradesh on many issues such as Polavaram project, funding for the new state capital of Amravati, making Visakhapatnam a zonal railways headquarters and clearance for the Kadappa steel plant project.
Chowdhary, on February 1, had warned that the TDP had three options before it, namely, (1) either try and continue the alliance (2) make their MPs resign and (3) simply terminate an association with the BJP and the NDA.
He had said that the TDP executive would in all probability meet on Sunday to take a final decision on the matter.
Last week, Naidu had issued an ultimatum to the BJP chart its own course if the BJP did not wish to continue with the alliance.
The TDP is the BJP's largest political ally in southern India. Its warning came shortly after another disgruntled ally, the Shiv Sena, publicly slammed the BJP for treating its allies improperly and threatened to sever the partnership.
The TDP had branded the 2018 Budget proposals as 'anti-people and corporate friendly', and a betrayal of the interests of Andhra Pradesh. It had said that its concerns were of a serious nature and need to be addressed effectively and promptly.
The TDP, which has been an ally of the BJP and a member of the NDA between 1998 and 2002, and again since 2013 to the present, is reportedly looking at a political alternative in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. It is being reported that the party and Chief Minister Naidu have already carried out an assessment of the pros and cons of a split with the BJP.
Meetings have reportedly been taking place between the leadership of the two parties, but as of now, the options are few and far, and if the TDP's demands are not met, it could withdraw its members from the union cabinet as a first step.
To improve his vote share, Naidu is eyeing the sizeable minority vote in the state. Last time, the Muslim vote had gone to the YSR Congress as the Congress party was seen as a weak rival to keep the BJP away.
The TDP and the BJP had contested the 2014 elections in alliance and the BJP has two MPs and five MLAs from Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP is reportedly concerned about gaining a toehold in South India. It wants to have allies in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
With Agency Inputs
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