Search the Internet          Tips

Chandrababu Naidu has tough task during Delhi visit

Telegu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has a delicate task to perform during his impending visit to Delhi. He will have to strike a balance between party members who do not wish to distance themselves from the National Democratic Alliance and the TDP's 'secular' obligations.

Naidu on Tuesday indicated in Hyderabad that he would visit Delhi on May 10 to talk to NDA leaders on his party's various needs.

However, a major assignment for Naidu, who is also the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, is to assess whether the NDA leaders will accord him the same kind of warm treatment, which his party got before April 30, when the Lok Sabha debated the Gujarat issue under Rule 184.

"We are not happy with the kind of [anti-NDA] statements which the TDP chief has been making. If it is a question of cooperation, you cannot clap with one hand," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sheesh Ram Ravi said.

He said while the TDP might have its own political compulsions, it could not be at the expense of the overall unity of the NDA.

"There has to be give and take, it just cannot be all unilateral grabbing," he said.

A section of the TDP MPs oppose the party's alienation from the NDA on the ground that it could prove to be politically costly.

On the other hand, the TDP leadership's demand for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's ouster is designed to assuage its Muslim electorate who want the party to distance itself away from the BJP-led NDA.

After the Vajpayee government defeated the Opposition-sponsored censure motion on Gujarat in the Lok Sabha, angry BJP members virtually petitioned Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not to tolerate the TDP's tantrums.

In fact, during the censure motion, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan told TDP parliamentary party leader K Yerran Naidu that his party should weigh the pros and cons of any decision, which it took in relation to the voting on the censure motion.

The TDP had walked-out of the House before the voting.

After April 30, TDP leaders have pointed out that there is no change in the party's demand for the removal of Modi.

However, Vajpayee has urged his party members to exercise restraint. At his behest, NDA crisis managers are engaged in persuading the TDP leadership not to jettison the NDA.

The BJP is also utilising the services of the Trinamool Congress -- an ally -- to persuade the TDP chief to stay with the NDA.

On May 5, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Vijay Goel visited Kolkata and urged Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to try and persuade Naidu.

Mamata has had cordial relations with Naidu whom she has often termed as "my elder brother".

In fact, during the assembly polls in West Bengal, Naidu made a whirlwind tour of the state to campaign for the Trinamool.

The Sabarmati in Flames: Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report