National News

Analysis: An unhappy marriage and a messy divorce for the TDP and BJP

The battered relationship between the BJP and the TDP has to be seen not just in the immediate context, but also the historical.

The TDP-BJP tie-up that has snapped today had been in the doldrums since Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on March 7 that the Centre won’t be able to grant Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh. 

The political shake-up at the Centre also kicks off the battle for the Andhra Pradesh voters, though simultaneous elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha are scheduled only in 2019.

The first bitter note for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was in October 2015 itself, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the capital city Amaravati at a grand function.

After the routine assurance that the Centre would honour the promises made in Parliament when the bifurcation Bill was passed, all Mr. Modi presented were mud from Parliament and water from the Yamuna river.

There were no announcements of fund disbursal, or even a roadmap to it. It seemed the Centre had washed its hands of the whole exercise, and poured cold water on Mr. Naidu’s enthusiasm.

In January this year, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, during a visit to the State, said as the average per capita income of the State was higher than the national average, “Special [Category] Status demand is well, you should think about it.”

He said the Centre did not have “free-floating funds” and allocation of funds was not based on public sentiment and political reasons. “Every State in India has a right to same Central funds in the same manner.”

He offered a gratuitous advice much to the chagrin of Mr. Naidu: “Let 40 per cent of people in Hyderabad, who are of Andhra origin, shift to AP. The taxes they are paying to Telangana State would then go to Andhra”

The battered relationship between the BJP and the TDP has to be seen not just in the immediate context, but also the historical. After the 2002 Gujarat riots, Mr. Naidu was vociferous in his criticism of Mr. Modi, reminding the latter that it was the remit of the government to protect citizens.

He had called for Mr. Modi’s resignation, and threatened to break up with the NDA. And in 2012, when Mr. Modi invited him to attend his swearing in as Chief Minister for the fourth time, Mr. Naidu rejected the invite. It’s hard to imagine that this has been forgotten or forgiven.

Mr. Naidu says he visited Delhi 29 times seeking assistance in vain while the BJP reels out figures of funds released and the number of Central institutions being set up in AP.

Mr. Naidu’s flip-flop on the Special Category Status — demanding it one day, settling for Special Package the next day, and again demanding the Status under pressure from the YSR Congress — has not really helped his cause.

Adding to the toxic mix is Polavaram. While the Centre said the State had failed to submit Utilisation Certificates for the funds released, the State, instead of addressing the issue, insisted on replacing the prime contractor Transtroy for not meeting targets.

This again resulted in a back-and-forth between the State and the Centre. Another bone of contention popular with the public is a railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

At one time it appeared the move gained traction. But the Centre is not willing to accede to it as it would involve taking a division of the East Coast Railway (ECoR), which functions from Bhubaneswar.

The BJP, which sees its prospects bright in Odisha, is not in favour of granting the zone lest it should upset its electoral applecart there. The BJD government is also reportedly against losing any division. The Prime Minister granting audience to arch rival and YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy also did not go down well with the Telugu Desam Party.

All these led to the inevitable step of each party withdrawing from the other’s Cabinet, and the formal breaking of ties. Both parties now have chalked out programmes to reach out to the people to present their version of the developments.

Your Opinion Counts !

Show More

Related Articles

Close

Adblock Detected

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker