One would hardly find a more opportunistic politician than Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Perhaps, the only one who can match up to his opportunistic politics is Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Everybody knows why Naidu has snapped ties with the BJP in 2018. He thought there was an anti-BJP wave before 2019 elections and the opposition parties had the opportunity to dethrone the Narendra Modi government.
At the same time, the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh was snowballing into a big movement and the YSR Congress party led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was taking full advantage of it.
So, Naidu thought he might as well lose the elections, if he continued to sail with the BJP. So, he came out of NDA, for which he had to pay a heavy penalty. He lost the elections with a big margin.
Now that Naidu back into the NDA fold by allying with the BJP for the 2024 elections as the Modi wave is pervading everywhere, he is trying to project himself to be a close friend of the BJP.
He told reporters on Wednesday that he had no differences with the BJP and he had come out of NDA only on the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
“The TDP was once a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and we have joined the alliance with the BJP again, as the Centre’s assistance is needed for the progress of the state,” he said.
Naidu claimed that the TDP supported the NDA unconditionally during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time without accepting any ministerial position.
“In 2014 too, the TDP had formed an alliance with BJP for the benefit of the state. Modi gave assurances and several works were implemented,” Naidu said, adding that he had pulled out of the NDA in 2018 over the issue of special category status.
He claimed that except for the development that the state witnessed during the TDP-BJP coalition government alliance in 2014, there was no development done in the Jagan Reddy regime and everything was destroyed in the state.
If what Naidu said was true, he should answer several questions. If he differed with the BJP only on the issue of special category status, he should have remained silent after coming out of the NDA. Why did he choose to attack Modi, personally and policy-wise?
Secondly, why did he join hands with the Congress, which is the primary enemy of the TDP right from the beginning? Why did he try to form a grand alliance with a call to pull down Modi?
Thirdly, if the special category status is the only reason for differing with the BJP, why hasn’t he joined hands with the Congress now, as it has assured to grant the status to AP if it comes to power?
Answer to all these questions is simple: Naidu wants power. For that, he can take any number of U-turns, but shows the excuse of Andhra interests!