VIJAYAWADA: With a lack of response from the BJP top leadership over the arrest of Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation case, TDP leaders, who are terming it ‘illegal’, seem to have decided to maintain distance from the saffron party.
Though AP BJP president Daggubati Purandeswari and Telangana MPs K Laxman and Bandi Sanjay condemned the arrest of Naidu, they confined their statements to the manner in which Naidu was arrested and not against the probe into skill development scam. However, TDP cadres were dismayed as no statement was issued from the BJP central leadership though due procedure was not followed in arresting Naidu.
Giving enough indications that the TDP was dissatisfied with the approach of the BJP leadership, TDP AP president K Atchannaidu during an informal interaction with the media, said the God only knows whether the arrest of Naidu was made with or without the knowledge of BJP.
Alleging that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was planning to keep Naidu in jail till the ensuing elections, he felt that it might be the reason behind Jagan’s scheduled visit to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on October 6. Asserting that the TDP is in alliance with the Jana Sena Party now, he said, “The tie-up with the Left parties will be decided by Naidu only.”
In fact, the TDP, which differed with the BJP in 2018 and walked out the BJP-led NDA, fought the 2019 elections on its own without any alliance and suffered a drubbing.
After the elections, the TDP softened its stand and started supporting the Centre both in and outside Parliament on several issues, dropping indications that the yellow party may rejoin the NDA bandwagon.
Naidu also hailed the decisions taken by Modi and clarified that he was forced to walk out of the NDA on the Special Category Status issue and he had no other differences with the Centre.
All the developments gave ample scope for predictions that the BJP, which is in alliance with the Jana Sena, may also join hands with the TDP to avoid the split in the anti-incumbency vote in the State. However, following the arrest of Naidu, the developments changed fast with Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan announcing that his party will sail together with the TDP and it is up to the BJP leadership to take a decision on the electoral allowance.
Responding to the statements of Pawan Kalyan, BJP leaders had maintained that any decision on electoral tie-ups would be decided by the party central leadership.
However, with Naidu remaining in jail for more than 25 days in the skill development scam, some TDP leaders are learnt to have suspected the BJP hand behind the arrest of the former Chief Minister.
“Some of our leaders are of the opinion that it is better for the party to go to the elections along with Jana Sena as any tie-up with the BJP will harm our electoral prospects,” a senior TDP leader told TNIE.
He further said except to avoid the Central agencies during the election time, the alliance with the BJP, which has no vote share in the State, will have no impact on the outcome of polls. Further, if any alliance with the saffron party, the minorities will distance themselves from the TDP, he opined.
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