TDP cuts ties with NDA , AIADMK backs Saffron BJP
NEW DELHI/ VIJAYWADA The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday decided to pull out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).The decision was announced by TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during a teleconference with party polit bureau members in Amaravati in the morning.
The polit bureau also took a decision to move its own no-confidence motion against the Union government in the Lok Sabha instead of supporting the one to be moved by rival YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). A polit bureau member told The Hindu that it was an unanimous decision. The formal announcement of leaving the NDA was done hurriedly to facilitate party MPs to move this motion, for denying Special Category Status and for not implementing the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.
TDP sees conspiracy
Apparently, the party changed its decision overnight to deny YSRCP taking the credit for moving a no-trust motion. The party also suspects that the BJP was conspiring with YSRCP and Jana Sena Party of actor Pawan Kalyan to weaken the TDP.
Further, the TDP moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government over what it sees as injustice to the people of Andhra Pradesh. While Opposition parties, including the Congress, CPI(M), and AIMIM, extended their support for the motion, it could not be taken up amid sloganeering in the Lok Sabha. The decision to pull out of the NDA was taken after Chandrababu Naidu’s teleconference with TDP members. TDP’s politburo unanimously took the decision to exit the alliance. The Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party also issued the notice to move a no-trust motion on Friday.
The BJP on Friday said the exit of TDP from the NDA was “inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against the Centre” and asserted that the latter’s exit is “a timely opportunity” for the saffron party to grow in Andhra Pradesh. “TDP’s decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against the Centre,” BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said in a tweet.
“People of Andhra Pradesh have now realised that the Telugu Desam Party is resorting to lies to cover up its inept and inert governance. Far from being a threat, TDP’s exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in Andhra Pradesh,” Rao said.
The decision comes against the backdrop of the Centre not only refusing to grant a special-category status to Andhra Pradesh, but Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley going on to categorically rule out any such possibility. AIADMK dubs TDP as ‘opportunistic’ AIADMK leader D. Jayakumar hit back at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) following their decision to cut ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), alleging that the decision was opportunistic in nature. “There were issues after the division of Andhra Pradesh. If there were issues all these years, then why weren’t they raised?
The proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive weeks today due to protests by opposition parties, which also led to the failure of the Lok Sabha to take up notices for no-confidence motion against the NDA government moved by parties from Andhra Pradesh. While the Lok Sabha proceedings were first adjourned till noon and then for the day, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned straight till 2.30 PM and later for the day with Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expressing anguish over the proceedings being paralysed ever since Parliament resumed its budget session on March 5 after a recess.
In the Lok Sabha, the notices for the no-confidence motion, moved for the first time since the nearly four-year rule of the BJP-led alliance, were not taken up as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who said there was no order in the House and adjourned the proceedings for the day amid vociferous protests over various issues.
Modi government has enough numbers to defeat no-confidence motion Notwithstanding the TDP quitting the NDA, the BJP-led government still has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha having the support of around 315 members and on its own has 274 — well above the current halfway mark of 270. After the recent losses in the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar bypolls, the BJP on its own has 274 members and the allies account for 41 members.
They include a sulking Shiv Sena (18), which has still not said which way it will vote in a no-confidence motion by the TDP. The others are the Lok Janshakti Party (6), Akali Dal (4), Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (3), Apna Dal (2), JD-U (2) and AINRC, JKPDP, NPP, PMK, SDF, Swabhimani Paksha — all one each. The AIADMK, which had contested the 2014 polls against the BJP but is generally seen to be its ally, has 37 MPs.
The TDP, which withdrew support to the Modi government and has moved a no-confidence motion, has 16 MPs while the YSRCP, which has also moved a no-confidence motion has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha. Speaking about the decision to part ways with the NDA, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu told the state Assembly that he took the decision in the interest of Andhra Pradesh and not for selfish reasons.
Mr. Naidu is believed to have told the polit bureau members that he would write a letter to BJP president Amit Shah, explaining why the party is leaving the NDA and the developments in the last four years when the Union government’s support to the State was not to the level expected by Telangana people. He would also inform other NDA partners the circumstances that forced the TDP to come out of the NDA.(With Agency Inputs).
