HS Alliance
Perhaps for the first time, TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu spoke about the TDP’s alliance with the BJP and joining the NDA at the Centre.
There have been rumors in the Telugu states that the TDP will soon join the NDA and run for the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP.
The buzz started with a national news outlet carrying a report that initial talks had taken place between the TDP and BJP leaders on the alliance. The TDP would soon join the NDA and contest the 2024 general election.
Rumor was that TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the day Chandrababu Naidu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the deal was finalized.
Although there is no evidence to prove that Lokesh met Amit Shah, national media reported that Amit Shah sealed the deal.
But, at home in Telangana, the BJP leaders ruled out the possibility of reconnecting with the TDP. BJP National Secretary Sunil Dheodhar had said that Modi having a word with Naidu had no political significance. He even equated Modi-Naidu’s encounter with that of Lord Krishna meeting Dhuryodhana before the war in the Mahabharata.
Telangana BJP leaders have ruled out the possibility of a BJP-TDP alliance and dismissed the rumours.
However, Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said he would not respond to the debate on whether or not the TDP would join the NDA. “Let those who created this debate answer the question,” the TDP leader said.
He further said that he paid a heavy price twice as he mainly focused on governance and neglected the grassroots party. He said he would focus on this issue once the party returns to power in Andhra Pradesh. “I would carry both governance and party,” Naidu said.