BJP eyeing sulking TD leaders

Vijayawada: It looks like all is not well with the two ruling partners in Andhra Pradesh. The six months in power seems to have developed enough gaps between the allies – the Telugu Desam and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ever since the Congress was made to bite dust in the last general elections, the BJP had set its eyes on the senior leaders from the party. It had succeeded in getting former Union Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao representing the strong Kamma community and former State Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana representing the Kapu community into the party.

Now, it had set its eyes on some other leaders from the Congress providing them political space that the Congress could not give at least for the next 10 years. On two occasions during his visit to the city, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu had openly declared that the BJP would fill the political vacuum in the State caused by the debacle of the Congress. “We want to take advantage of the absence of a strong opposition in Andhra Pradesh. We will grow strong in the State,” Venkaiah Naidu asserted. True to his assertions, the party leadership in the State is slowly roping in some strong leaders from the Congress and the list is long and interesting.

Having set its eyes on the Congress leaders, the BJP appears to have turned to the ally – TDP. The party had already set its eyes on the discontentment brewing in the ruling party. The other day, Deputy Chief Minister K E Krishna Murthy had openly expressed his unhappiness over the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu not allowing him and other Ministers to speak in Assembly. Interestingly, Krishna Murthy, who holds the important Revenue portfolio, is not part of the Cabinet sub-committees on the capital, including land pooling. It is a known fact that the Revenue Minister has a big role to play in land pooling or acquisition and the Deputy Chief Minister’s non-involvement in the exercise gives space for rumours of discontentment to do rounds. Former Congress leader and MP J C Diwakar Reddy is understood to be unhappy with the TDP, particularly the Chief Minister’s style of functioning. Similarly, his Narasaraopet counterpart, Rayapati Srinivasa Rao, the former MP from Narasaraopet and present Guntur West MLA Modugula Venugopala Reddy, are some of the names that are doing rounds having some discontentment.

TDP’s senior leader and former minister Ch Ayyannapathrudu from north coastal districts is also airing dissent often and is said to be unhappy with the leadership. Majority of the leaders from the TDP feel that the Chief Minister is taking advises only from a few Ministers and MPs ignoring others. Not many are in the inner circle of the Chief Minister. Several of them are not even getting information and invitations from the Chief Minister on important issues to be discussed and debated. There are some leaders who feel that they are being neglected by the officials at the behest of some Ministers. The sudden outburst of Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas on Friday against the district officials is seen as an indication of such discontentment. These leaders feel that they are not being invited or involved and not being made part of important initiatives of the government. It is here the BJP is trying to take advantage, it is learnt.

By: D Gopi