TDP exits NDA, moves no-confidence motion

Amaravati/New Delhi, March 16

Advertisement

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.

Also read:

TDP president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made the announcement in Amaravati, eight days after two of party’s Union ministers 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”.

(Follow ; and )

Naidu said 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 TDP’s no-confidence motion due to his party’s credibility.

Naidu also came down heavily on the PM, saying that Modi did not even bother to invite the TDP MPs for a discussion when they were agitating in Parliament.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre has always been willing to give a special package to Andhra equivalent to a Special Category Status. He said the Centre had agreed to the mode suggested by the state but it did not revert with details.

The notices for the no-confidence motion, moved for the first time since the Modi government assumed office, were not taken up as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said there was no order in the House. The TDP had yesterday offered to back  YSR Congress’ no-trust motion but said it withdrew the support as it smelt a nexus between it and the BJP.

The motion can be accepted only if it has the support of at least 50 members. 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. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the whole country has full confidence in the PM, as does the House. — TNS/PTI