Ever since the presentation of the Union Budget, members from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have been protesting inside and…
(Photo: SNS)
Ever since the presentation of the Union Budget, members from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have been protesting inside and outside Parliament demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.
Holding placards and raising slogans against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the TDP leaders drew attention to the perceived “injustice” meted out to the state which was formed following the separation of Telangana in June 2014.
On Friday, TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu formally announced his party’s decision to break off from the NDA – an action that comes days after the resignations of YS Chowdary and Ashok Gajapathi Raju from the Modi government.
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The ‘separation’ itself doesn’t come as a surprise to many who read the signs from the vociferous and intense protests by the TDP leaders at New Delhi and across Andhra Pradesh.
On 9 March, former Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju participated in a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the Parliament House premises demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh during the second phase of the Budget Session.
On 12 March, TDP members joined leaders from other parties to raise slogans demanding the special status.
Parties which oppose the BJP have joined their voices with the TDP’s demands for the fulfilment of the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
Prominent leaders who are looking at the prospect of forming a nationwide coalition against the BJP, welcomed the TDP’s decision to quit the alliance.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, was one of the voices which supported Naidu’s decision to part ways from NDA.
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