NEW DELHI: Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after pulling out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said that BJP means 'Break Janata Promise'. TDP President Chandrababu Naidu made the decision to pull out of the alliance in an emergency teleconference with party politburo members and MPs.
TDP leaders CM Ramesh, Thota Narsimhan, Ravindra Babu also said that they will be moving a no-confidence motion against the Centre on Monday.
"It is unfortunate. We tried our best to be together but the present government ignored the sentiments and emotions of people of Andhra Pradesh," TDP leader YS Chowdary said. Chowdary along with Ashok Gajapathi Raju were the two ministers who had resigned from the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet on March 8 in protest against the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to the state.
Letter of TDP MP Thota Narasimhan to Lok Sabha Secretary-General for moving motion on 'No-Confidence in the Council of Ministers' in the House. pic.twitter.com/Zwg5qge3Sw
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
TDP MP Jaydev Galla also kept up the attack on the BJP, saying the party is playing dirty games. "What they did in Tamil Nadu, how they tried to encourage smaller parties and create rift within larger parties, now, they are trying to bring similar strategies to AP. We have no confidence in the government," he said.
#WATCH TDP MPs stage protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament, raise slogans of 'We want justice, NDA talaq, talaq, talaq.' pic.twitter.com/qOWDBOqO9q
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
Unnerved by TDP's decision, the BJP called it a rehearsal before the actual elections. "Will see what happens in Parl, which party chooses to go which way. In a way it is election year & every state has demands & issues, it is not right for us to comment on it. It is a custom, before actual elections there is always a rehearsal in Parl," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
The party also said that the TDP has taken the step to regain its lost political ground in Andhra Pradesh. "We believe TDP is finding the going tough in AP, they are seeing a defeat for themselves in 2019 and they want to use this as an alibi to really retrieve lost political ground. Questions are being asked in Andhra as to why the CM took 4 years to realise that this is not working," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.
Rao also added that the state government and TDP are feeling the pinch of the public opinion going against them but added that the decision will be good for the BJP. "BJP will use this as an opportunity to grow as a political party and emerge as a dominant political force in Andhra Pradesh. For us it will prove to be the next Tripura," Rao said.
CM Chandrababu Naidu led TDP government had been demanding a special status for Andhra Pradesh. However, they claimed that they let down by the Central government. "For four years I have been requesting the Centre but now, only under inevitable circumstances, I started fighting only to secure the state's rights since the PM has meted out injustice," the TDP president had said on Thursday.
