TDP not to pull out of NDA, for now

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, February 4

After combative posturing over the “raw deal” to Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget, the Telugu Desam Party, the biggest southern ally of the BJP, today made a climbdown, indicating it would not pull out of the NDA, for now. 

But the regional party would continue to confront the Union Government, within and outside Parliament, over the “neglect” of AP’s interests in budgetary allocations. The MPs would stage protests in Parliament to highlight the “injustice” to the state. This was decided at a meeting of TDP’s parliamentary party at the residence of party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada.

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The party leadership is upset over the Centre’s failure to meet the key demands of AP post-bifurcation, including funds for building capital Amaravati and the Polavaram irrigation project.

 The TDP has 15 MPs from AP and one from Telangana. The MPs complained that none of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, found mention in the Budget. The demand for “special category” status for Andhra was earlier rejected by the Centre.