TDP gone, BJP looks to stoke Telangana issue

The Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) decision not to join the NDA's boycott of the Budget session has triggered a realignment of political forces in Andhra Pradesh. The latest in the series is the resignation Vijaya Shanthi, Telegu cinema's "tough cop" and a prominent BJP leader.

Shanthi resigned from her post after she declared her intention of campaigning for the cause of Telangana, a separate state carved out of northern Andhra Pradesh.

The Telangana demand was part of the BJP manifesto during the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, but was dropped when the party entered into an alliance with the TDP, which opposes the breaking up of the state. Shanthi now says that dropping of the demand had "hurt her" and that she will continue to raise the issue through an agitation.

The BJP, however, does not seem too perturbed over Shanthi's resignation.

"She has resigned from the party, but has left without spreading any bitterness, and on good terms," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

Or in other words, Shanthi is trying to stoke an issue which the BJP also feels should not have been dropped in the first place, especially since N Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP seems determined to chart a divergent course from the BJP.

"BJP leaders in Andhra are hurt that despite the fact that they stood by Naidu and dropped issues close to them, Naidu lost no time in turning his back on them," said a state BJP leader.

In fact, current Minister of State for Rural Development A Narendra was earlier a minister in the Vajpayee government who left the NDA when the BJP dropped the Telangana demand.

He joined the Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which swept to power in Andhra Pradesh along with the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections of 2004.

In fact, the Congress, too, has been playing cat-and-mouse on the Telangana issue and the BJP leaders have sent feelers to Rao.

Senior leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and V K Malhotra have reportedly met the TRS leader and are exploring ways of bringing the issue into limelight. Rao, who is awaiting a group of ministers report on the matter, appears cautious at the moment.

Shanthi's resignation may signal a new phase for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh as it tried to emerge from the shadow of the TDP and strike out on its own.