Naidu moves to end marriage of convenience with BJP

Suresh Dharur in Hyderabad

It was a marriage of convenience that was bound to end in a messy divorce. When the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the biggest southern ally of BJP, walked out of the NDA over denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh, the move did not come as a surprise. The alliance between the two parties was inherently flawed from the beginning. It was not ideological convergence but an existential dilemma that had forced the TDP boss N Chandrababu Naidu to firm up a pre-poll alliance with the BJP in April 2014. 

It was a time when Naidu and his party leaders were grappling with the post-bifurcation political uncertainty and desperately looking to piggyback on a perceived Modi wave across the nation. The first assembly election after AP’s division had thrown up new challenges for Naidu who was out of power for a decade and in desperate need of a formidable ally. As a result, the TDP’s political pendulum swung from Left to Right, prompting it to return to the NDA fold after 10 years.

Flip-flops galore

Ironically, Naidu had often dubbed BJP as a “communal party” and even held the saffron party responsible for his loss of power in the 2004 assembly elections in the combined Andhra Pradesh. His party was in alliance with the BJP between 1998 and 2004. Naidu was a crucial player in the NDA-1 headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

While addressing a convention of minorities on Sept 27, 2012, Naidu had admitted that his party's alliance with BJP in the past was the biggest mistake of his life and assured that such a situation would never arise again. He had apologized to Muslims in a public speech made at his party's Mahanadu convention on May 28, 2011.

Two years later, Naidu even made attempts to bring together regional parties to build a federal front as an alternative to UPA and NDA. However, the post-bifurcation dynamics and Modi’s nationwide popularity prompted him to make a U-turn and align with the BJP ahead of the 2014 election that had turned out to be a “do or die” battle for the three-decade-old regional party.

Political crossroads

Naidu, a wily strategist who took over the reins of the party after dethroning his father-in-law NT Rama Rao in a midnight political coup in August 1995, ruled the state for a record nine years. He became the toast of the national media and one of the most sought-after leaders in the national coalition politics. As a convener of the United Front, he played a key role not only in the policy making but also in deciding the prime ministerial candidates. Later, during the NDA regime, his party’s outside support became crucial for the survival of the BJP-led coalition.

He had a six-year association with the NDA and fought the elections in 1999 and 2004 in alliance with BJP. However, after losing power in the state in 2004, Naidu severed his links with the saffron party and moved closer to the Left in what was widely seen as an attempted image make-over. 

During his tenure as CM, he had strongly opposed populist schemes and was hailed as a frontrunner in implementing far-reaching economic and administrative reforms.

Battle over special category status

The TDP’s latest decision to exit NDA is being seen by BJP leaders as a blessing in disguise because it would provide an opportunity for the party to grow in the state. “We will do a Tripura in Andhra,” boasted the party spokesman GVL Narasimha Rao. It may be an exaggerated claim but many local BJP leaders say the party cannot expand its support base as long as it prefers to play second fiddle to the TDP.

While the expectation in political circles was that Naidu might end the alliance with BJP a couple of months before the 2019 elections, what hastened the break-up was the mounting pressure from the main opposition YSR Congress Party, headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, which has been positioning itself as the sole champion for the state’s cause. 

The growing belligerence of the YSRCP, which was the first to serve a notice for no-confidence motion against the NDA government, prompted Naidu to finally call it quits.