Ending its four-year-old alliance with the BJP, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today pulled out of the NDA over the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and simultaneously moved a no-trust motion in Parliament.
TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu made the announcement to exit the BJP-led alliance in Amaravati, eight days after two of its union ministers--P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary-- quit on March 8 following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The YSR Congress--a regional party in AP-- also moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
The BJP termed TDP's decision as "inevitable".
Naidu later told reporters he was fighting a "dharma yuddh"(righteous war) to secure the state's 'legitimate' rights and claimed that parties at the national level were backing the TDP's no-confidence motion due to his party's credibility.
Naidu also came down heavily on the prime minister saying that Modi did not even bother to invite the TDP MPs for a discussion when they were agitating in Parliament for the state's rights.
He said Modi showed a lot of concern for Andhra Pradesh on the eve of 2014 elections and promised many things, including building the state's new capital better than New Delhi.
The chief minister wanted to know what happened to all those promises.
"We joined the NDA in the first place only to protect our state's interests in the aftermath of bifurcation. We waited for four years with the hope that the Centre will honour all the promises but it only meted out injustice to us, Naidu said.
However, the BJP never cared about TDP, he charged adding while in the opposition, it promised to take care of the state and its needs but once in power, "it completely ignored us."
The Centre on its part said it has been waiting endlessly for a response from Andhra Pradesh to resolve the special package issue.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre has always been willing to give a special package to Andhra Pradesh equivalent to a Special Category Status. He also said the Centre had agreed to the mode suggested by the state for receiving special package funds but it did not revert with details.
The notices for the no-confidence motion that were moved for the first time since the Modi government assumed office in May 2014 were not taken up as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there was no order in the House and adjourned the proceedings for the day amid vociferous protests over various issues. The no-confidence notices were moved by TDP's Thota Narasimham. YSR Congress member Y V Subba Reddy.
The TDP politburo unanimously took the decision to end the alliance during a tele-conference with Naidu this morning.
The party politburo meeting to decide over quitting the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) was planned for this evening, but the formality was completed during the daily tele-conference Naidu holds with party leaders in the morning.
The union government exuded confidence that it has the numbers in the Lok Sabha to defeat the no-trust motion
The BJP, which claimed that the TDP exit provided an opportunity for it to grow in the state, faces the prospect of going it alone in the elections in Andhra Pradesh next year with the two main regional parties -- TDP and YSR Congress -- arrayed gainst it.
The TDP had yesterday offered to back the YSR Congress' no-confidence motion but said it withdrew the support as it smelt a nexus between it and the BJP.
"We go according to principles. Our leader felt being part of NDA and moving a no-confidence motion would not be ethical. So we withdrew from the NDA and I have issued a letter on no-confidence motion to the speaker at 9.30 am," Thota Narasimham, the TDP's floor leader in the Lok Sabha, told reporters in Delhi.
His party colleague Ramesh claimed that YSR Congress MP Vijaysai Reddy was seen making attempts to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this, he said, hinted at a nexus between both parties.
"If it is not taken due to lack of time today, on Monday we will get signatures from 54 MPs from various other parties and push for a no-confidence motion vigorously," Ramesh said.
The motion can be accepted only if it has the support of at least 50 members in the House. While the TDP has 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the YSR Congress has nine.
Congress and Left leaders said they would support the motion against the government.
As the opposition counted its numbers, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the whole country has full confidence in the prime minister as does the House.
"The government has the numbers... We are ready to take up everything," he said.
With the BJP alone having 274 members in the 536-member Lok Sabha and enjoying support of allies, the no-confidence motion, if accepted, is likely to be defeated but it has the potential to put the saffron party in a tight corner in the state.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
