The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) run by Chandrababu Naidu is not happy with the Budget presented by Arun Jaitley on Thursday. The TDP is one of BJP’s biggest ally in the South and might lose their support due to the Budget 2018.
Immediately after the Budget of 2018 was presented, Naidu called for an emergency meeting with all the party leaders on Sunday.
TDP Parliamentarian in Delhi T. G. Venkatesh stated, “We are going to declare war. We have three options, one is to try and continue, two is our MPs resign and the third is to end the alliance. We will decide in the meeting with the Chief Minister on Sunday.”
If TDP decides to call it quits with BJP it will be the second major alliance partner after Shiv Sena to part ways from BJP. Earlier, Shiv Sena announced it would contest in the 2019 General Election alone.
Union Minister Y. S. Chowdhary stated, “The people and the party are disappointed with the union budget. Many state issues like the Polavaram project funding and funds for capital Amaravati were not addressed in the budget.” He further added, “We are in the alliance and will fight for our share.” Chowdhary added the party leaders plan to pressure the Centre until the 2019 elections.
One of the TDP lawmakers Ram Mohan Naidu said, “Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has paid many visits to Delhi, not once did Finance Minister Arun Jaitley mention his name during the budget speech.”
The TDP has been demanding a Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh even since the bifurcation in 2014. But the Centre outright rejected this demand. The relationship between BJP and TDP has been getting worse over the years. Earlier, when the Triple Talaq Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha, TDP sided with the Opposition ruining BJP’s plan to pass the Bill in the Winter Session.
