Amit Shah tweaks schedule, may meet 'old pal' Chandrababu Naidu at RFC

HYDERABAD: A crucial tweak has been made to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s itinerary during his visit to Telangana -- the senior BJP leader will have a brief stopover at Ramoji Film City after his public meeting in Munugode on August 21.

At the Film City, Shah is now scheduled to spend some time with Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, the media baron. However, highly reliable sources say that former AP chief minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu will be present at the Film City at the time Shah visits it.

According to these sources, BJP MP Y Satyanarayana Chowdary, popularly known as Sujana Chowdary, has used his good offices to facilitate the meeting between Shah and Naidu, in the hopes of a revival of an alliance between the TDP and BJP in AP and Telangana for the next elections.

After the conclusion of the public meeting in Munugode at around 6 pm, Shah will head to the Ramoji Film City, where he is expected to spend around 45 minutes till 7.30, after which he will head to Novotel Hotel at Shamshabad. From 8 pm to 9.30 pm, the senior BJP leader will hold meetings with some key leaders of the party’s State unit. He will fly to New Delhi the same night.

According to sources, the TDP extending support to NDA’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, and then Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Vice-Presidential poll, paved the way for the possibility of a revival of the BJP-TDP alliance.

Even before extending support to the NDA candidates in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s overtures towards the TDP’s “long-standing friend” -- with which he had parted ways after his demand for Special Category Status for AP was turned down -- were evident from his social media posts, where he had paid rich tributes and praised former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the latter’s death anniversary on August 16.

In his tweet, Naidu said that Vajpayee was one among the prominent figures who had played a pivotal role in the construction of modern India. Naidu also expressed his happiness in working with Vajpayee on key reforms in the telecom sector, the golden quadrangle project, the open sky policy, micro-irrigation and greenfield airports.

Also crediting Vajpayee for the development of roads across the country, and for conducting the nuclear tests at Pokhran and for securing the country’s victory in the Kargil War, Naidu referred to Vajpayee as a patriot who had to be remembered during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The BJP, which is going all-out to come to power in Telangana, has till now not found a way to woo the Andhra voters who have been the deciding factor in around 30 Assembly constituencies. The Kamma vote bank has been crucial in most of these constituencies, especially in the twin cities, erstwhile Khammam district and Nizamabad district. Earlier, BJP had forged an alliance with TDP ahead of the 2014 and the 1999 General Elections -- an alliance that was mutually beneficial for both parties.

In the 2014 elections in Telangana, the TDP secured 15 Assembly seats with a vote share of 14.7 per cent, whereas the BJP won five seats with its vote share being 7.1 per cent. However, the tide turned against the TDP, which was part of the Maha Kutami in the 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana, with not only its vote share plunging to 3.5 per cent, but its seats being reduced to two MLAs (Sandra Venkata Veeraiah from Sathupalli constituency and Mecha Nageswara Rao from Aswaraopeta). Both these MLAs joined the TRS later.

The BJP, which is now confident of improving its vote share in Telangana, believes that a tie-up with the TDP will ultimately transfer the voters of the latter party to it in the next election, thus adding in its incremental value.

HYDERABAD: A crucial tweak has been made to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s itinerary during his visit to Telangana -- the senior BJP leader will have a brief stopover at Ramoji Film City after his public meeting in Munugode on August 21. At the Film City, Shah is now scheduled to spend some time with Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, the media baron. However, highly reliable sources say that former AP chief minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu will be present at the Film City at the time Shah visits it. According to these sources, BJP MP Y Satyanarayana Chowdary, popularly known as Sujana Chowdary, has used his good offices to facilitate the meeting between Shah and Naidu, in the hopes of a revival of an alliance between the TDP and BJP in AP and Telangana for the next elections. After the conclusion of the public meeting in Munugode at around 6 pm, Shah will head to the Ramoji Film City, where he is expected to spend around 45 minutes till 7.30, after which he will head to Novotel Hotel at Shamshabad. From 8 pm to 9.30 pm, the senior BJP leader will hold meetings with some key leaders of the party’s State unit. He will fly to New Delhi the same night. According to sources, the TDP extending support to NDA’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, and then Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Vice-Presidential poll, paved the way for the possibility of a revival of the BJP-TDP alliance. Even before extending support to the NDA candidates in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s overtures towards the TDP’s “long-standing friend” -- with which he had parted ways after his demand for Special Category Status for AP was turned down -- were evident from his social media posts, where he had paid rich tributes and praised former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the latter’s death anniversary on August 16. In his tweet, Naidu said that Vajpayee was one among the prominent figures who had played a pivotal role in the construction of modern India. Naidu also expressed his happiness in working with Vajpayee on key reforms in the telecom sector, the golden quadrangle project, the open sky policy, micro-irrigation and greenfield airports. Also crediting Vajpayee for the development of roads across the country, and for conducting the nuclear tests at Pokhran and for securing the country’s victory in the Kargil War, Naidu referred to Vajpayee as a patriot who had to be remembered during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The BJP, which is going all-out to come to power in Telangana, has till now not found a way to woo the Andhra voters who have been the deciding factor in around 30 Assembly constituencies. The Kamma vote bank has been crucial in most of these constituencies, especially in the twin cities, erstwhile Khammam district and Nizamabad district. Earlier, BJP had forged an alliance with TDP ahead of the 2014 and the 1999 General Elections -- an alliance that was mutually beneficial for both parties. In the 2014 elections in Telangana, the TDP secured 15 Assembly seats with a vote share of 14.7 per cent, whereas the BJP won five seats with its vote share being 7.1 per cent. However, the tide turned against the TDP, which was part of the Maha Kutami in the 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana, with not only its vote share plunging to 3.5 per cent, but its seats being reduced to two MLAs (Sandra Venkata Veeraiah from Sathupalli constituency and Mecha Nageswara Rao from Aswaraopeta). Both these MLAs joined the TRS later. The BJP, which is now confident of improving its vote share in Telangana, believes that a tie-up with the TDP will ultimately transfer the voters of the latter party to it in the next election, thus adding in its incremental value.