After Telugu Desam Party Chief Chandrababu Naidu met Bharatiya Janata Party top-brass in Delhi a little over a week ago, there’s movement. The BJP appears to have thrown its weight behind the TDP and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) helmed by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy isn’t complaining. The decision set free Jagan Mohan who always gave the impression of being a lone ranger.
Age is on Reddy’s side. CBN is old for political gymnastics. The BJP preferred a partner who would succumb to submissions. Jagan Reddy does not fit that requirement. The YSRCP won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. So YSRCP is the BJP’s main rival in Andhra Pradesh in 2024.
The YSRCP is also less likely to submit to BJP’s seat-sharing demands. The TDP in its current weakened state would be far more pliable. The undeclared TDP-BJP alliance is already fetching results. Naidu on Thursday asked the Modi government to initiate action against “corrupt practices” of Jagan Reddy. If this isn’t the BJP’s toolkit, what is?
The TDP strongman knows allegations of corruption are all that is needed for central agencies to butt in. Naidu’s contention is none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called Chief Minister Jagan Reddy “India’s most corrupt leader”. Shouldn’t the Andhra Pradesh CM take that seriously; or, should he dismiss it as poll-eve rhetoric?
But Shah is Union Home Minister and when he says the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government is mired in corruption, things cannot be left hanging. It becomes incumbent upon Shah to back his allegation with evidence. For far too long, and for far too many times, politics of shoot and scoot has been used to further politics of convenience.
Somebody as responsible as a Union Minister cannot be flippant with words. If the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is corrupt, take action! Else, clear the table and issue a public apology. What does CBN mean by “Jagan Mohan Reddy’s corrupt activities”?
Jagan Reddy’s “corrupt administration” had also come in for criticism from BJP President JP Nadda, who used the three words “ most corrupt government” to call for “action” against the Reddy government. Naidu went deeper. He cited “illegal granite mining in Kuppam” and “YSRCP leaders are using the Rs 2,000 notes at liquor shops”. Also, Jagan Mohan uses “rowdies who file false cases”.
All Naidu wants is the return of the TDP to power. And he has started making promises, like women would travel free in APSRTC buses after TDP kicks YSRCP out. And the TDP would simultaneously start “creation of assets” to increase revenue to pay for the welfare schemes for the poor. The reticent Jagan Reddy should learn from the voluble Chandrababu. CBN is a past master in propaganda, second only to ‘Namo’.
That said, without doubt, the ‘Pune Conclave’ triggered talk of a TDP-BJP alliance. When Andhra’s two political parties are fighting each other, it is but natural for the Bharatiya Janata Party to be an interested party. Now, the BJP has chosen Telugu Desam Party over the YSRCP, which is a departure from less than a month ago, when both TDP and YSRCP attended the opening of the ‘New Parliament’ in a show of solidarity with the BJP.
Take note that neither party is an NDA constituent. But the YSRCP and TDP have voted many times in alliance with the BJP/NDA. Like for example, in the election of the President, and in the election of the Vice-President. Even on issues like CAA/NRC both regional rivals voted along with the BJP, which makes one wonder why the BJP leans towards the TDP.
In 2019, the TDP dumped the NDA and joined the UPA. The BJP was always aware that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was too independent for the BJP. It suited Jagan Mohan Reddy to stay “single” and free unlike Chandrababu Naidu, whose specialty is coalitions and rigging up alliances.
Could it be that a tie-up with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh will help the BJP in Telangana? The YSRCP has no direct skin in Telangana. In 2019, Chandrababu Naidu had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” and the BJP had sworn no more alliance with the TDP, especially after Naidu asked his “Muslim friends” to steer clear of the BJP. Today, Modi himself is a “friend” of the Muslims and the BJP thereby shares political kinship with the TDP. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s core vote-bank, on the other hand, is entirely different from that of the BJP. Both state parties, however, appear to have completely forgotten BJP’s anti-federalism. (IPA Service)
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