BJP, TDP separate but no divorce yet
CORDIAL SPLIT? TDP pulls out of govt but not NDA; BJP ministers exit Andhra cabinet
NEW DELHI: Following up on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement the previous day, the two Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government resigned on Thursday.
Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and minister of state for science YS Chowdary’s resignations, to protest the denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Narendra Modi spoke to Naidu on the phone.
n a reciprocal measure, the two BJP ministers in the Andhra cabinet too put in their papers and quit the state government.
The TDP has, however, not pulled out of the NDA and the party’s pull-out has no impact on the majority of the government in the house.
The exit was cordial with the ministers, in their statements, appreciating the PM and his support.
The announcement sparked a range of political reactions in Delhi. The BJP officially empha- sised that it had done its best to convince the TDP, and suggested that this had in fact opened the doors for the party’s growth in Andhra Pradesh.
An energised opposition, however, claimed this was the beginning of the unravelling of the NDA.
After finance minister Arun Jaitley made it clear that ‘special status,’ which would have entitled Andhra Pradesh to special central grants, was not feasible, Naidu announced the decision to pull out the two TDP ministers from the government late on Wednesday night.
The TDP has been demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh since the creation of Telangana state in 2014 deprived it of revenue generated from industries located in and around Hyderabad.