YSRCP, TDP vie to befriend BJP in Andhra, but saffron party has no takers in Telangana
By Newsmeter Network Published on 11 Dec 2019 3:10 AM GMT
Amaravati: While the ruling YSRCP and the main opposition TDP are competing to befriend the BJP in Andhra Pradesh, there are no takers for the saffron party in Telangana. This was evident when the Citizenship Amendment Bill was debated and passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The YSRCP and the TDP strongly supported the bill, while the TRS vehemently opposed it.
In fact, TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao even went to the extent of issuing whip to his party MPs to oppose the bill and vote against it.
On the other hand, YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu directed their party MPs to speak in favour of the bill and vote accordingly.
Interestingly, all these three regional parties in Telangana are believed to be maintaining a friendship with the BJP either ‘openly’ or ‘secretly’ since 2014.
The TDP joined BJP-led NDA in 2014, contested Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, formed a coalition government with BJP in AP and joined the NDA government at the Centre before snapping ties few months ahead of 2019 general elections.
The YSRCP, on the other hand, is believed to have maintained ‘secret ties’ with BJP after TDP’s exit.
It is widely believed that the BJP has extended all kinds of help to Jagan to defeat TDP and dethrone Chandrababu from power in AP in May 2019 polls.
The TRS too has maintained ‘secret ties’ with BJP since 2014.
Though TRS was never part of NDA, it supported Modi’s decisions on demonetisation and GST besides the election of President Ramnath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu during the NDA-I government.
TRS continued its ‘secret ties’ with the BJP even during NDA-2 government by supporting the Triple Talaq bill, Reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir through the repeal of Article 370. The TRS either voted in favour of these bills or abstained from voting to help them pass through.
However, the TRS took an aggressive stand against BJP for the first time by strongly opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill. With this, the BJP at present has no ‘secret friends’ or ‘open friends’ in Telangana.
The BJP has to grow on its own in Telangana.
