The Special Category Status issue a ruse for political realignment, say leaders The BJP watched the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) pull out ministers belonging to it from the Union government with an air of resignation on Wednesday evening
The Special Category Status issue a ruse for political realignment, say leaders
The BJP watched the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) pull out ministers belonging to it from the Union government with an air of resignation on Wednesday evening. A twenty minute phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu did not change the inevitable with ministers Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y.S. Chowdary tendering their resignations. Mr. Naidu reportedly explained to Prime Minister Modi all the reasons why he felt he should withdraw his partymen from the Council of Ministers. Whatever the reasons given by Mr. Naidu, there appeared to be no doubt in the mind of BJP leaders involved in the relationship that his move was a purely political one, and the demand for Special Category Status is an alibi to pull out ministers.
Political move
“There is only a year left for both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh. Normally, every party will have its own strategy in the run up to the polls. When political one-upmanship is going on so strongly in the State, this was to happen,” said Andhra Pradesh BJP president, K Hari Babu.
Mr. Babu appeared to be referring to the pressure put by YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan in raising the demand for Special Category Status. When asked whether he considered Mr. Naidu’s finessing of ties with the BJP by only removing TDP ministers from the Council of Ministers and not pulling out of the NDA altogether as a window being kept open, Mr Babu said, “wait for a day or two.”
Local compulsions
There is also a growing belief in the party that in Andhra Pradesh, the best case scenario for the BJP would be a tough seat distribution negotiation with the TDP in 2019 (the TDP has withdrawn its ministers from the government, but remains in the NDA), and the worst would be to go it alone and negotiate a post poll tie up with either of the two main Andhra parties, the TDP and the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy led YSR Congress Party.
While the local leadership of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh welcomed the move, happy to move out of the rather large shadow cast by Mr. Naidu, the central leadership was counting the cost of going alone. “Local units are always happy with going alone, but our organisational strength does not support that view,” said a senior source in the party. Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats, with the TDP fighting on 20 seats (winning 15) and BJP fighting on five (they won 2). There is now a question mark over the whole arrangement.
In the run up to the 2014 campaign for general elections, Mr. Naidu was one of the first on board the NDA gravy train. In fact, one of the first big rallies addressed by Mr. Modi as prime ministerial candidate was in Hyderabad with Mr. Naidu in tow.
The political churn before 2019 has however changed this happy picture.
The BJP watched the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) pull out ministers belonging to it from the Union government with an air of resignation on Wednesday evening. A twenty minute phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu did not change the inevitable with ministers Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y.S. Chowdary tendering their resignations. Mr. Naidu reportedly explained to Prime Minister Modi all the reasons why he felt he should withdraw his partymen from the Council of Ministers. Whatever the reasons given by Mr. Naidu, there appeared to be no doubt in the mind of BJP leaders involved in the relationship that his move was a purely political one, and the demand for Special Category Status is an alibi to pull out ministers.
Political move
“There is only a year left for both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh. Normally, every party will have its own strategy in the run up to the polls. When political one-upmanship is going on so strongly in the State, this was to happen,” said Andhra Pradesh BJP president, K Hari Babu.
Mr. Babu appeared to be referring to the pressure put by YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan in raising the demand for Special Category Status. When asked whether he considered Mr. Naidu’s finessing of ties with the BJP by only removing TDP ministers from the Council of Ministers and not pulling out of the NDA altogether as a window being kept open, Mr Babu said, “wait for a day or two.”
Local compulsions
There is also a growing belief in the party that in Andhra Pradesh, the best case scenario for the BJP would be a tough seat distribution negotiation with the TDP in 2019 (the TDP has withdrawn its ministers from the government, but remains in the NDA), and the worst would be to go it alone and negotiate a post poll tie up with either of the two main Andhra parties, the TDP and the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy led YSR Congress Party.
While the local leadership of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh welcomed the move, happy to move out of the rather large shadow cast by Mr. Naidu, the central leadership was counting the cost of going alone. “Local units are always happy with going alone, but our organisational strength does not support that view,” said a senior source in the party. Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats, with the TDP fighting on 20 seats (winning 15) and BJP fighting on five (they won 2). There is now a question mark over the whole arrangement.
In the run up to the 2014 campaign for general elections, Mr. Naidu was one of the first on board the NDA gravy train. In fact, one of the first big rallies addressed by Mr. Modi as prime ministerial candidate was in Hyderabad with Mr. Naidu in tow.
The political churn before 2019 has however changed this happy picture.