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TDP decision to quit NDA will save nation from disaster: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the decision by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to quit the National Democratic Alliance…

TDP decision to quit NDA will save nation from disaster: Mamata Banerjee

(Photo: Twitter/@AITCofficial)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the decision by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre and in the state on Friday.

Reacting to the decision taken by the TDP politburo, Mamata tweeted that the decision will help “save the nation from disaster”.

“I welcome the TDP’s decision to leave the NDA. The current situation warrants such action to save the country from disaster,” wrote the Trinamool Congress chief on her official Twitter handle.

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Banerjee has been looking at the prospect of a coalition of non-BJP, non-Congress parties to take on the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections of 2019. She was also invited to a dinner hosted for anti-BJP parties by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath. She, however, did not attend.

In a subsequent tweet, the Trinamool Congress chief also urged all political parties to “work closely” to take on the BJP.

“I appeal to all political parties in the Opposition to work closely together against atrocities, economic calamity and political instability,” she tweeted.

 

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu broke off from NDA over demands of special category status for Andhra Pradesh, which, his party claims, has been ignored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ever since the formation of the government at the Centre.

His party will also support a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao called TDP’s decision a “mischievous propaganda” and said that it is an opportunity for the BJP to grow in Andhra Pradesh.

“TDP’s decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against Centre. People of AP have now realised that the TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inept & inert governance.Far from being a threat, TDP’s exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in AP,” he wrote on Twitter.

 

TDP, which was also an alliance partner in the state, has been vociferously raising the issue of funds allocation to the region formed in June 2014 following the separation of Telangana region from Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu has been telling his party’s leaders to continue their protests against the “injustice” meted out to Andhra Pradesh ever since the presentation of the Union Budget in the Parliament on 1 February. TDP leaders have held protests both inside and outside the Parliament and also joined Opposition parties in the state for a shutdown on 8 February.

TDP protesting in Parliament
TDP members and other party leaders raise slogans demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh during the Budget session of Parliament in the capital on Monday, 12 March. (Photo: SNS)

On 8 March, TDP MPs YS Chowdary and Ashok Gajapathi Raju submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the same day, BJP ministers in Naidu’s cabinet resigned from their posts in the state government.

At the time, the TDP leaders had said that they will continue their alliance with NDA.

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