For the first time after the debacle in the recent elections, the Telugu Desam Party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu has openly agreed that severing ties with BJP was a mistake.
The revelation came at a party meeting the coastal district of Visakhapatnam. In several closed door meetings, Naidu also had expressed similar kind of thoughts with regard to going with the Congress in the Telangana elections, where both the parties suffered humiliation at the hands of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
“We severed ties with the BJP and withdrew our ministers from the union cabinet to press our demands on Amaravati, Polavaram and Special status,” Naidu told cadre. He says that the move backfired and the party has suffered a lot because of that decision. Naidu also released that the real meaning behind the friendly caution thrown by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a debate on the no-confidence motion proposed by TDP in Parliament. The PM has said that Naidu has fallen into the trap of the YSRCP.
The Prime minister also called Naidu not to take a hasty decision and stay in the NDA, just before the TDP chief was to make the decision public. “The people of the state despite of the hard work we did, refused to give us another chance,” Naidu recalled. The TDP chief had earlier said that people have not accepted his affiliation with the Congress. “I have taken the decision to share seats with Congress in Telangana. We fared miserably. Halfway through I have realized that it was a grave mistake, but it was too late,” Naidu said.
However, the state BJP has made no comments on the newfound reconciliation from Naidu. “BJP President Amit Shah has then told Naidu that the doors are closed for him and his regional party with the NDA,” a senior leader from BJP has pointed out. However, the possibility of the two parties working together against YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the future can’t be ruled.
Naidu is also considering close ties with Janasena party of actor Pawan Kalyan. During the 2014 elections, the TDP-BJP-JS combine helped Naidu to win the elections. The division of votes in 2019 when the TDP fought the elections all alone hurt Naidu’s fortunes. It is now believed that the TDP will also mend ways with the actor turned politician.