BJP eyes inroads in Andhra Cong gets a shot in the arm with TDP’S rebellion
STRATEGY Stating they were ready for TDP to pull out its ministers, party insiders say they now have an opportunity to gain big in the state THE CONG IS NOW TRYING TO EXPAND A TRUNCATED UPA BY BRINGING ALL NONNDA POLITICAL PARTIES ON ONE PLATFORM
NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sees an opportunity to expand its footprints in Andhra Pradesh after its partner from the southern state, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), almost severed its ties with the government, BJP leaders said on Thursday.
Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s decision on Wednesday to pull out two of his ministers from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government didn’t surprise the BJP, but it was rather preparing for the “inevitable” after the TDP escalated its demand for special status for the state.
“We realised it two months ago that the TDP was going a different way … We have two MPS and four MLAS to lose in the worst case scenario when the two parties contest elections separately,” Andhra Pradesh BJP chief K Hari Babu said.
“We have a bigger territory to gain. The BJP will attempt to improve its position in Andhra Pradesh.”
The TDP-BJP alliance was forged before the parliamentary and assembly elections in 2014. The coalition won 17 of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 106 of 175 assembly constituencies in the state.
According to BJP leaders, who didn’t want to be named, the TDP has been demanding the status that will guarantee enhanced central funds for development. But it was lying low until its regional rival, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress, started an aggressive campaign for the special status promised when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014 to form a separate state of Telangana. The YSR Congress has declared that its MPS will resign on April 6 if the special status was not announced before that.
The BJP polled about 7% votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and over 2% in the assembly polls in the state. It sees a “huge scope” for improvement in vote share and its seat tally.
But the party’s primary concern now is to counter the perception that it blocked the special status for Andhra Pradesh.
“Our strategy will be to dispel this perception,” said a BJP leader, requesting anonymity. “No government at the Centre can grant such a status after implementation of the 14th Finance Commission.”
The BJP’S campaign will highlight benefits the NDA government extended to Andhra Pradesh beyond the increased share of states in taxes collected by the Centre — from 32% to 42%.
The party has prepared a 17-page document listing out incentives such as 11 educational institutions of national importance by 2022 and adequate funds for infrastructure projects.
The BJP’S presence in Andhra Pradesh is mostly concentrated in the coastal region, which includes nine districts. It is relatively weak in four districts of the Rayalaseema region, a stronghold of the YSR Congress.
A BJP leader, who doesn’t want his name published, said the party does not hope to emerge as the dominant force in Andhra Pradesh immediately, but a countrywide surge will help it gain ground in the southern state.
The optimism stems from the BJP’S string of poll victories in states that were considered impregnable for the party — the latest instance being the win Tripura, where it upstaged 25 years of Left Front rule.
The leader warned that the party’s allies must realise this is a “new BJP” that will not give into “blackmailing techniques”.
The BJP pins hope on a multicornered contest, including the TDP, YSR Congress, the communist parties and the Jan Sena Party of actor Pawan Kalyan, to make progress in Andhra Pradesh.
The party does not see a possibility of the Congress and TDP coming together. The TDP’S “origin, survival and future” depends on its anti-congress position, which Naidu will not give away, BJP state unit chief Babu said.
As for Jagan Mohan Reddy, the BJP leader said the YSR Congress chief has his set of reservation with the Congress.
“A reunion of Jagan and Congress is ruled out at the moment,” the BJP leader added. NEWDELHI: The decision of two Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ministers to quit the Narendra Modi government has given fresh fodder to the Congress to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
On Thursday, just hours after Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced that two of his party’s ministers would depart from the central government, the Congress was quick to accuse the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “autocratic style of functioning” to drive home its point that all is not well in the NDA — to suggest that the group was “disintegrating”.
“A parochial autocratic alliance led by the Prime Minister could never accept the divergence of opinion or plurality which is the essence of India’s foundational values,” Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said. “The splintering of the NDA is only a reflection of that philosophy of the Prime Minister and the BJP. It doesn’t start or end here,” he added as the main opposition party also alluded to the growing differences between allies Shiv Sena and BJP.
The party also targeted Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar whose Janata Dal (United)’s alliance with the BJP, it claimed, “was on the verge of collapse”.
“This talaq, remarriage and now possible talaq again has to be explained by Nitish Kumar himself,” Surjewala said, while seeking traction for its claim by pointing out Odisha’s ruling party Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) decision to snap ties with the BJP in 2009.
While the NDA appears to be in disarray, the Congress is trying to expand the much-truncated United Progressive Alliance (UPA) by bringing all the non-nda political parties on a single platform and prepare a joint strategy not only for Parliament but for the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
So far, as many as 17 Opposition parties, including the bitter West Bengal rivals Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left, have on various occasions come together to attack the NDA government on several issues. The unity inside and outside Parliament on the defrauding of the PNB and the escape of accused jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have further energised the Opposition camp.
As part of the strategy, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has called a dinner-meeting of the Opposition parties at her residence on March 13.
Perhaps Gandhi’s move was prompted by the BJP’S stunning performance in Tripura and its ability to stitch alliances in Meghalaya and Nagaland despite being a small player in the two states.
Though the TDP continues to be a part of the NDA at the moment, the Congress is hoping that the southern party will soon snap its ties. It even tried to woo its chief, Naidu, by praising him over his stand for the development of Andhra Pradesh.
“Let me recapitulate, Mr Naidu as the NDA convener was the first to speak against Mr Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister. He showed the courage of conviction to say so and called a spade a spade,” Surjewala said in an apparent reference to the political developments following the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“Mr Naidu has now realised the futility of continuing in an alliance which only has disrespect and humiliation for the partners,” he said.