Hyderabad: Just two days before the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on 16 March, there was no hint that the break-up would come about quite so suddenly.
Even after two of its MPs resigned from the Union cabinet on 8 March, TDP leaders, including Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, maintained that the party would not leave the NDA any time soon.
So what happened in those two days to prompt such a sudden decision?
The answer to that, going by senior TDP leaders’ account, lies in the allegations of corruption made by TDP ally Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader, the actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, against the TDP government and Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh.
And that was two days before the TDP broke its alliance with the BJP.
“We received information that the BJP in AP is planning to poach some of our leaders and also slander the chief minister. Everything changed on the evening of 14 March, when Kalyan made those statements against us. It looks as if JSP is being backed by the BJP, and hence the chief minister took the decision. Seems like there was a plan to destabilize the government. The decision to quit was taken suddenly the night before we quit the NDA (a day after Kalyan made the allegations at a public meeting in Vijayawada),” said a senior TDP leader, requesting anonymity.
Another TDP leader said that for the 2019 assembly elections, it is likely that the TDP will contest on its own, unlike in 2014 when it joined hands with the JSP and BJP. “Given the current situation, who can we tie up with now? Naidu had asked all party leaders to strictly not say anything against Kalyan, who began shooting his mouth off in public, so the JSP is also not an option,” he said, adding that the state’s relationship with the centre will only worsen from this point on.
BJP leaders, however, said the TDP panicked after Kalyan’s public outburst. “The TDP has been trying to weaken us in AP. So we too decided to break the alliance,” said Sudheesh Rambhotla, chief spokesperson of BJP in AP, who said his party will not tie up with the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
Another BJP leader, who did not want to be named, however did not rule out the possibility of a tie-up with the YSRCP. “There have been some back-channel talks with the YSRCP. It might not be a direct (pre-poll) alliance, but more like the BJP (at the centre) might give in to its demands and then join hands. Even if this happens, it will be much later,” he added.
There are 125 TDP MLAs (including 22 YSRCP defectors), 44 YSRCP, four BJP and three independents in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh assembly.
“Under Amit Shah, the BJP’s strategy has been very clear to use its allies and get stronger. We have seen it in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena was a force in the 90s,” said political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy. He pointed out that the BJP gained strength after forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena.
Reddy added that Naidu was wary of the BJP. “Even in north-east, in state after state, they have taken the same approach. Be it Assam or Tripura, they used local parties or weakened the Congress to come into power. It was never an organic growth,” he said.