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Congress claims Naidu's flock is ready to cross over

Shireen in Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy Friday said that all Telugu Desam MPs, including Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi, are sore with their party president and Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

"All of them believe in secular ideology. Under the present circumstances, they would certainly like to leave the TDP," he said.

Addressing a news conference on his return from Delhi, Dr Reddy recalled, "One MP Chada Suresh Reddy spoke to me and said his party is in dire straits. They (the TDP MPs) are not sure whether they would win the next parliamentary election because the TDP's image has eroded and it has lost the support of the minorities and the Communist parties ever since it extended support to the BJP-led coalition government."

Asked why then the TDP MPs weren't coming out openly, the APCC president's reply was that Naidu was keeping them 'hostages'.

"Chandrababu Naidu is hosting dinners and tea parties for his party MPs and trying to keep his flock together. He is worried that they are all sore at him," Dr Reddy said.

Condemning Naidu's allegations that the Congressmen lured TDP's Satrucherla Vijayarama Raju with inducements, the APCC president said that the TDP chief has no right to talk about morality in politics.

"The Anti-Defection Act has been used and misused in the state according to the convenience of the Telugu Desam Party. Chandrababu Naidu had no qualms in admitting into his party those MLAs who had contested the Lok Sabha election in 1996 on NTR-TDP ticket," he said.

Questioned about the allegation that it was he who enticed Raju into the Congress fold, Dr Reddy said, "I was not given any brief to woo TDP MPs nor do I need to do so. Satrucherla came on his own and he made it clear that he believes in secular ideology.

"The BJP is there in power as caretakers. Let them order a CBI inquiry to find out whether we lured Satrucherla with money or other inducements," he challenged.

The APCC president refused comment on a query as to how many more TDP MPs would cross over. " I am not in touch with anyone. I will not contact or woo anyone," he said.

Reacting to the fresh developments in Delhi, he said that "either it is going to be a Congress government headed by Sonia Gandhi or mid-term polls."

He said that those with vested interests like Chandrababu Naidu mooted the idea of a third front government from behind the scenes, so that they could bargain for Cabinet berths. They had also floated Jyoti Basu's name for prime minister's post, he pointed out.

Dr Reddy said there was no reason for other Opposition parties to back out from supporting the Congress under the present circumstances as the Congress had supported two United Front governments during 1996-98 from outside.

"The Congress is ready for mid-term poll. We are ready for both parliamentary and assembly polls. We will win the poll by securing an absolute majority in both the Lok Sabha and assembly. We had scored landslide victories in three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi -- and we will repeat the performance in the ensuing poll to Lok Sabha too," he said.

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