TDP set to break ties with Saffron BJP, vote against Modi government
NEW DELHI/ VIJAYVADA : Nora Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party is set to break its ties with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and officially exit the National Democratic Alliance on Friday.
Meanwhile, the YSR Congress today gave a notice for moving a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government following the Centre’s refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh and found unlikely support from its arch-rival Telugu Desam Party.
The YSR Congress’s MP Y V Subba Reddy gave the notice to the Lok Sabha secretariat for including the motion in tomorrow’s list of business, his office said.
Moreover, the party will also support the No Confidence Motion set to be moved by Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party in Parliament tomorrow, Indianexpress.com reported today. A decision in this regard will be taken in TDP’s politburo meeting called by Naidu tomorrow.
“If necessary, we will support the no confidence motion against Centre, whoever may place it: TDP President and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu in state assembly,” Naidu said in state assembly.
With the BJP alone having 274 members in the 536-member Lok Sabha and enjoying support of allies, the no-confidence motion, if accepted, is certain to be defeated but has the potential to put the saffron party in a tight corner in a state like Andhra.
Even if TDP’s 16 members support the no-confidence motion, the government will still has a big numerical advantage in the House.
Citing sources, the report said majority of members including MPs, MLAs and senior leaders are in favour of quitting NDA. TDP leader Kambhampati Rammohan Rao said exiting the alliance is the only option left with the party.
As per the report, Naidu called TDP MPs on Thursday and accused PM Narendra Modi and the BJP of using YSR Congress Party and actor K Pavan Kalyan’s Jena Sena Party to target Andhra government. He further communicated to his MPs that the prime minister was using ‘same strategy in Andhra as he used in Tamil Nadu’ where BJP supported EPS faction led by former CM O Panneerselvam.
Speaking to media, State Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu had said TDP exposed the Centre on what it had done or not done for the state — as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 — by putting out relevant facts and figures before the people.
The TDP had pulled out its two ministers from Modi government after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley explained that Centre can’t provide special category status to the state of Andhra Pradesh. Jaitley said that special staus to the state can’t be given after the implementation of 14th Finance Commission.
The TDP has withdrawn its ministers from the government after the Centre made it clear that it cannot grant the status to the state and the regional party, which is in power in the state, is now mulling to quit the NDA.
Significantly, the party has also decided to support a no-confidence motion being moved by the YSRCP, against the Narendra Modi government over the SCS. The motion may or not be accepted but the objective being to highlight SCS and other demands in the Parliament, the TDP feels it should be on the same page setting aside political differences as it concerns the interests of the State.
The motion can be accepted only if it has the support of at least 50 members in the House. YSR Congress has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha.If accepted, it will be the first no-confidence motion moved against the Modi-government.YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to leaders of various parties seeking their support for the motion.
In the letter, he has asserted that if the Centre remains reluctant to grant the special category status to the state then all MPs of his party will resign on April 6.
The BJP has accused regional parties in Andhra Pradesh of playing “politics of victimhood” and claimed that the central government had already given a lot of benefits to the state and was willing to do more.
(With Agency Inputs ).
