BJP threw coalition dharma to wind: TDP

VIJAYAWADA: Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy has said that despite the saffron party humiliating the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on several occasions, the Naidu government has followed the coalition dharma only for the sake of the State.

“Though BJP had severed its ties with TDP unilaterally in Telangana, we respected it in Andhra Pradesh and helped Nirmala Seetharaman and Suresh Prabhu to become Rajya Sabha members from the state. Sadly, the BJP government at the Centre did not reciprocate in a similar manner in fulfilling its promises to the State,’’ he said.

Speaking to mediapersons at Velagapudi on Friday, Chandramohan Reddy said BJP chief Amit Shah had unveiled its expansion plans in seven States during the Assam elections. “Apart from AP and Telangana, the  BJP is planning to spread its base in Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha and other States. Accordingly,  the saffron party has snapped its ties with TDP in Telangana. But, we never complained about it and continued our cordial relations with BJP in AP,’’ he said.

He said TDP thought that BJP leaders would strengthen their party in the State on their own, not by hatching a conspiracy against other political parties.

“Though YSRC YS Jaganmohan Reddy did his best to malign the image of the TDP government by alleging that the State government had mortgaged the interests of the State to the Centre, neither the NDA government nor the BJP leaders failed to refute the charge,’’ he said.

Chandramohan Reddy further pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave appointment to the YSRC chief who had spent 16 months in jail in connection with disproportionate assets cases. “He took one-and-a-half-years time to give appointment to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Is it the coalition dharma?’’ he reasoned.

He observed that the BJP, under the leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, had thrown ‘Mitra Dharma’ to the wind, he said.

He said it was Narendra Modi, who hailed then Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu as the hero who had fought for the cause of Special Category Status (SCS) to AP. Modi sidelined Venkaiah Naidu by appointing him as the Vice-President of the nation as the latter had raised his voice in favour of SCS, he added.