Naidu in Delhi to meet top BJP leaders, likely to return to NDA

Once the alliance with the TDP is formalised, the BJP leadership would put it up at the party’s parliamentary board meeting scheduled on February 9 for a formal ratification, a leader said

Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday rushed to New Delhi to meet the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party, amidst speculations that his party might return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after a gap of nearly six years, a senior TDP leader familiar with the development said.

N Chandrababu Naidu left for the national capital in a special flight in the afternoon along with a couple of senior party leaders (ANI)

Naidu left for the national capital in a special flight in the afternoon along with a couple of senior party leaders. “He would hold talks with Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda,” the TDP leader said.

He said in all probability, the BJP might join hands with the TDP, which already forged an alliance with the Jana Sena Party headed by popular actor Pawan Kalyan to fight the upcoming elections together in Andhra Pradesh. The Jana Sena Party, in turn, has an alliance with the BJP in the state.

“Though Naidu and the top BJP leaders might come to a broad agreement on forging an alliance, they might not immediately discuss the seat sharing issues. It would be done at the state level,” the TDP leader said.

Once the alliance with the TDP is formalised, the BJP leadership would put it up at the party’s parliamentary board meeting scheduled on February 9 for a formal ratification, he said.

The TDP leader said for now, the talks would be confined to the BJP joining the TDP-Jana Sena Party alliance. “The issue of the TDP joining the NDA will come at a later stage, only after the TDP comes to power in Andhra Pradesh. In any case, there is no option before the TDP except joining the NDA, if the state has to get financial support from the Centre,” the party leader said.

The TDP was part of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi between 2014 and 2018. However, in March 2018, the TDP snapped ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA in protest against non-implementation of promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, including granting of special category status to AP.

In 2018, Naidu joined hands with the Congress party to form a grand alliance by stitching up various national and regional parties to fight against the Narendra Modi government. But with Modi returning to power in 2019 and the TDP losing power to YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu beat a retreat.

Subsequently, he has been making attempts to patch up with the BJP by praising Modi’s leadership and meeting the BJP national leaders a couple of times. But the BJP did not entertain his overtures and has been adopting a wait and watch approach.