The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party national to seal the deal with the Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party alliance to contest the elections together in Andhra Pradesh has not gone down well with many of the BJP leaders in the state.
One such leader is former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh IYR Krishna Rao, who was making a scathing attack on the TDP and its president N Chandrababu Naidu, when the latter was in power.
He used to oppose many of the decisions of Naidu, including the location of capital city at Amaravati.
IYR appears to be very unhappy with the TDP and Jana Sena Party joining hands with the BJP and becoming part of the NDA.
He began firing salvos at Naidu and his friendly media, even as the TDP chief was in negotiations with the top BJP national leadership.
Reacting to a report that appeared in yellow media that the TDP-Jana Sena and BJP would form a good combination, the former chief secretary said if the two parties felt so, they could as well become a single party in the interest of the state.
“If the three parties can become a good team, they may not have objection to become one party. If TDP and Jana Sena Party can be merged into the BJP, it would help not only the state interests, but also the national interests,” he commented.
IYR pointed out inherent contradictions in the statements of the TDP and the BJP leaders on the alliance.
“The TDP leaders issued a statement that they are forging an alliance keeping in view the best interests of the state. This gives rise to the impression that they don’t need the BJP support to win the elections in the state,” he said.
So, IYR says the TDP leaders want to convey the message that since it is very difficult to run the show after the TDP wins the elections without the support of the Centre, they are going in for alliance with the BJP.
“The TDP also says it has decided to join the NDA only on the invitation from the BJP,” he pointed out.
“Does it mean, the TDP has kept its option open on coming out of the NDA, if it feels it is in the interests of the state. The BJP leaders should keep it in mind while dealing with the TDP,” he warned.
On the other hand, BJP national president J P Nadda tweeted that the TDP itself had proposed to join the NDA and held discussions with the BJP national leadership in this regard.
“This is in sharp contrast to the statement of the TDP leaders. Unless there is a clarity on these contradictory statements, the uncertainty will continue to loom over the alliance,” he said.
IYR also demanded that the alliance should also give clarity on the demand for special category status.
“They have to put an end to raising the issue of special status, by accepting the special package and including it in the joint manifesto. The package was already agreed upon by NCBN earlier. So, the TDP should acknowledge the fulfilment of the state division promises,” he said.