VIJAYAWADA: BJP national vice-president and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav have predicted that the TDP will soon become completely vacant as leaders from the party were ready to join the saffron team.
While Chouhan likened the TDP’s fate to that of the Congress, which doesn’t have a leader now, Madhav took a jibe at Chandrababu Naidu’s party saying that it would just be confined to Telugu Association of North America (TANA) programmes.
Both the leaders on Sunday visited Vijayawada and Guntur to participate in party’s membership drive.
“Naidu kept slamming Narendra Modi and Amit Shah when he was in power. He wanted to be a national leader, but could not even save his party in Andhra Pradesh. Just like the Congress, which has become zero in the State, the TDP is also on the verge of extinction,” he said at a press meet in Vijayawada.
He noted that members from the TDP and other parties were keen on joining the BJP as their respective parties lack leadership. He added that by next elections, only the BJP and YSRC would be in the fray.
Chouhan later addressed party office-bearers in Guntur. On the occasion, he said the YSRC government would also meet the same fate of the TDP if it continues caste and dynastic politics. When asked about the demand for special category status by the ruling State government, he said, “Naidu had accepted special package. Accordingly, the Centre computed the share to be given to the State in lieu of SCS in the form of a package and offered close to `17,000 crore. Naidu thought it would be difficult to pocket them as the Centre said it wouldn’t give it to him directly. That is why he backtracked,” Chouhan alleged.
Speaking on the occasion, Madhav said,“People rejected the TDP and went to the other party because of the rampant corruption and irregularities. People saw the betrayal by TDP in the last five years. If the YSRC resorts to same things, then the BJP will become the alternative in the State.” He also alleged that Polavaram project works did not progress even though the Centre released funds. “Hundreds of crores of rupees were released. I went to the project site and saw that nothing was done except excavation work. Projects in the TDP regime were synonymous with corruption,” Madhav alleged.
‘No leadership in Cong’
Drawing parallels between the political turmoil in Karnataka, Goa and other States, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “The Congress MLAs in Karnataka or Goa or Telangana joined us because there is no leadership. Rahul Gandhi also ran away from the responsibility of heading the party. Party chiefs in other States are also unavailable. Mahatma Gandhi had said that the Congress was formed to fight for the country’s freedom and that it should be disbanded after independence. But, Jawaharlal Nehru did not agree to it. However, another Gandhi is ensuring that the Congress is a closed chapter,” he said.