Unhappy with the allocations for Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has called for an emergency meeting of senior leaders on Sunday to discuss the situation and review party’s future with the BJP. Sources said there could be a “drastic announcement” after the meeting.
“We are going to declare war. We have three options — one is to try and continue, two is our MPs resign and the third is to end the alliance. We will decide in the meeting with the Chief Minister on Sunday,” TDP Member of Parliament TG Venkatesh said in Delhi.
The TDP will be the second BJP major alliance partner after Shiv Sena to threaten a break-up before the upcoming general elections. On Friday Sena again mocked the BJP and said its decision not to ally with the BJP in future is final.
Taking a dig at the BJP over Rajasthan poll result, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said it is just an interval and the real status of the party will be revealed in next year’s general elections.
“The Gujarat elections were the trailer and the Rajasthan bypolls the interval, now we will see the entire picture in 2019,” Raut said.
He remained adamant over Sena contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections alone and asserted that there is no question of going in an alliance with the BJP again. He said that “once the arrow has left the bow it doesn’t come back.”
While BJP-Sena relation has reached a point of no return, the TDP may wait till January 15 to take a final call on remaining in the NDA. The southern party wants that the Modi Government should address its long-pending and important demands through amendments to Union Budget before it was passed in Parliament.
“If the Union Government did not consider the requests by then, a decision might be taken by Naidu on the party’s relations with BJP,” a senior TDP leader said.
TDP leaders are openly criticising the Central Government over the Budget saying Andhra people were cheated in the Budget. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, told media that the Central Government has fulfilled all its commitments made to Andhra. It is learnt that BJP president Amit Shah too has called State BJP leaders to Delhi to discuss the situation.
TDP’s senior leaders and State Ministers like Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy and Union Minister YS Chowdary have expressed unhappiness over negligence shown towards Andhra in the Budget. The TDP leaders are feeling that despite being a part of NDA, the Union Government leaders are dishonouring Naidu in several aspects.
Naidu had sought special package for Andhra capital Amaravati, higher funds for Polavaram Project, a Railway Zone in Visakhapatnam, increase of fiscal scope to raise more loans, converting all EAP loans as NABARD loans with 90% share of Union Government, and all compliances of promises made in the Reorganisation Act.
TDP claims that other than Rs 1,400 crore to Vizag Steel Plant, hardly Rs 700 crore were allocated to the Central institutions located in Andhra.
There is a feeling in TDP that since 2018-19 Union Budget is the last one before the general elections in 2019, their alliance with BJP may be counter-productive. The BJP is reportedly warming up to YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and that has also upset the TDP. Jagan has already openly announced his willingness to join hands with BJP in the next elections. Under no mood to concede political advantage to Jagan at this juncture, TDP leaders are pressuring Naidu to review relations with BJP.