Shah-Naidu’s late night meet stokes speculation of BJP-TDP partnership
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah met former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) chief, N Chandrababu Naidu at his residence late on Saturday evening. The meeting stoked speculation that the two former allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the TDP, could be joining hands ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to a person aware of the details, the meeting lasted over an hour and the two leaders discussed a bunch of issues.
The person declined to comment on whether a decision on the alliance was taken.
Naidu, whose TDP was the first to break ties with the National Democratic Alliance after it came to power at the Centre, has been sending out signals that his party is keen to mend ties with the BJP, this person said.
In a statement made in April, Naidu described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a visionary who has been “upholding the prestige” of the nation and displaying to the world the strength of India. He also specified that he was willing to associate with Modi in the nation building process.
TDP had snapped ties with the NDA in 2018 in protest over the delay in grant of special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Naidu had then said that his decision was in response to the Centre overlooking Andhra Pradesh in the annual budget.
If the two parties renew ties, it is expected to come as a shot in the arm for the BJP that has an ambitious target of expanding its footprint in Andhra Pradesh and the rest of the southern region. While it has emerged as a key opposition party in Telangana, the party has been struggling to find support among the politically dominant castes in Andhra Pradesh.