TDP-BJP war of words continues

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday engaged in a war of words, heating up the political atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh and in the TDPNDA alliance at the Centre.

N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister, who held a teleconference with party MPs in New Delhi and other senior party leaders on Friday, is learnt to have said that the TDP had gained little benefit in the 2014 elections by aligning with the BJP.

“Before the 2014 elections, the TDP achieved a massive victory in local body elections. There was no difference in the percentage of voting for the TDP in assembly elections compared to local body elections. As such, there was no additional benefit in terms of voting for the TDP because of the alliance with the BJP,” a party source said, quoting Naidu.

The TDP chief said the party had an alliance with the BJP and later joined the NDA only to bring maximum benefits to the state. Naidu told MPs that the party would have to continue in the NDA for some more time in order to wrap up some crucial issues pending with the Centre, especially with regard to the release of funds for Polavaram project.

Naidu also constituted a strategy committee comprising state ministers Y Ramakrishnudu, Kala Venkat Rao, S Chandramohan Reddy, K Achen Naidu, and K Srinivasulu, besides legislative council chief whip P Kesav, media adviser Parakala Prabhakar, and Andhra state planning board vice-chairman Ch Kutumba Rao, to work out the party strategy to be adopted in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the BJP reacted strongly to Naidu’s comments. Daggubati Purandeswari, former minister at the Centre and a senior BJP leader, found fault with him for trying to shift the blame to the Centre for not fulfilling the promises made in the bifurcation act. “Naidu himself said there was no additional benefit from the special category status, compared to the special package. Now, he is raising the issue for political gains,” Purandeswari said in Vijayawada on Friday.

She alleged that the state government had not submitted utilisation certificates for funds released by the Centre for several projects.“Where are the accounts for money released for the capital Amaravati? Why did the underground drainage project in Vijayawada and Guntur come to a halt?” she asked.

Within hours of two BJP ministers — Kamineni Srinivas and P Manikyala Rao — resigning on Thursday from the Naidu cabinet, BJP leaders in Andhra decided to undertake field inspections of all central projects in the state to expose the alleged hollowness in the TDP’s charges.

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