Now that the Telugu Desam Party is a strong alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party both in Andhra Pradesh and at the Centre, party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is now compelled to support the BJP national leaders, irrespective of whether they are correct or not.
On Thursday, Naidu reacted to the protests by the Congress and other opposition parties in Delhi against the alleged derogatory comments by Union home minister Amit Shah against B R Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Constitution.
Speaking with his ministers on the incident during the cabinet meeting, the chief minister remarked that sometimes, even if sensitive issues are addressed with good intentions, there are those who distort them.
Chandrababu Naidu recalled a past instance where he was falsely accused of calling agriculture a burden, which he clarified was not true. He pointed out that the ongoing situation in Delhi regarding Ambedkar is of a similar nature.
Naidu reminded that Ambedkar did not receive due respect during the Congress regime and that Ambedkar lost elections during that time. And it was the BJP government which had honoured Ambedkar with Bharat Ratna award.
He noted that the statue of Ambedkar in the Parliament premises was established during V.P. Singh's tenure, stressing the need for discussions on issues such as who truly recognized Ambedkar's contributions.
Surprisingly, YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy remained tight-lipped over the controversy over Amit Shah’s comments, at a time all the political parties spoke either in support of Shah or against.
Jagan did not come out with any statement on whether Shah was right in making such comments on the floor of the House or was wrong in belittling Ambedkar.
It clearly shows Jagan is not keen on antagonising the BJP, though he has made his stand clear on issues like Wakf Amendment Bill etc.
Maybe, he is waiting for the BJP snapping ties with the TDP in the coming days.