Will not break ties with BJP, reports of Naidu talking to Uddhav wrong: TDP

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 the 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. Chowdary said they would first raise issues concerning the state with the Centre and try to get them addressed. "If the Centre does not concede to our demands, then we will undertake protest both inside and outside Parliament," he added. "It was all media speculation," Chowdary said when asked if the TDP was ready for a divorce with the NDA. Asked if BJP chief Amit Shah had spoken with Naidu, he replied in the negative. He said Naidu did not speak to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, the BJP's bickering ally, as some media reports had claimed. The BJP and the TDP are part of the ruling alliances in Andhra Pradesh and also at the Centre.