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Chandrababu Naidu hints at possible return to NDA fold, calls Modi a ‘visionary’
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu snapped ties with the NDA in March 2018 after being part of the Modi government since 2014.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s recent praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership has ignited speculations of his possible return to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold, people familiar with the development said on Friday.
During a television debate on April 26, Naidu, who snapped ties with the NDA in March 2018 after being part of the Modi government since 2014, described the prime minister as a “visionary”, who has been upholding the prestige of the nation and displaying to the world the strength of India. “I am willing to associate myself with Modi in the nation building,” Naidu had said.
Stating that he was completely in sync with the prime minister’s vision, the TDP chief said: “He (PM Modi) is working for the development of the country and I am striving for the development of the Telugu people.”
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On his exit from the NDA, Naidu had said it was only on the issue of “special category status” for Andhra Pradesh, which had become a sentimental issue those days. “But I had never opposed Modi’s policies,” he added.
The TDP chief did not rule out his party’s possible return to the NDA fold again. “Only time will decide on it. But I always support the prime minister on his decisions for the country’s development,” said Naidu, whose party had suffered a major setback in the 2019 state elections, winning only 23 of the 175 seats.
Andhra Pradesh BJP leaders, however, have been strongly rejecting reports of a possible restoration of ties between the two parties. “There is no question of joining hands with the TDP again,” state BJP president Somu Veerraju had earlier said.
The BJP has been eyeing to replace the TDP as the principal opposition party in the state, in alliance with Jana Sena Party headed by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan. However, Pawan Kalyan is keen on roping the TDP into the alliance in a bid to unseat chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party from power in the 2024 assembly polls.
“My whole objective is to see that the anti-establishment vote should not split under any circumstances by bringing the anti-YSRCP parties together,” Kalyan had said at his party’s foundation day on March 14.
BJP national secretary and party’s co-incharge for Andhra Pradesh affairs, Sunil Deohar said: “It is for the national leadership to decide on alliances in future. For now, we have an alliance with Jana Sena.”
A senior BJP functionary, requesting anonymity, said the party also needs the support of the TDP in Telangana, where elections are due by later this year. “All said and done, the TDP has some votebank in Telangana, especially in and around Hyderabad. If there is a transfer of even a small percentage of TDP votes to the BJP, it will help us in the Telangana elections,” he added.
Political analyst Sriram Karri said the BJP is wary of the fact that Naidu had ditched the NDA twice in the past. “There are chances that despite anti-incumbency, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy might come to power for a second term. So, there is little viable value for anyone, including the BJP, to bet on Naidu for a partnership,” he added.
