A day after Congress announced that it would fight the elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday indicated that his party, the TDP, too would not have any electoral tie-up with the national party in the state.
Alliances in states would be based on the wishes of respective parties, he told Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders during a teleconference. “We are together fighting the BJP at the national level. We have come on a common platform with the slogans save nation, save democracy, united India. Ending the dictatorial rule (of Modi) is our common minimum programme,” Mr Naidu maintained.
Mr Naidu pointed out that the Trinamool Congress and the Congress did not have any electoral alliance in West Bengal. “Still, Congress leaders attended the opposition rally in Kolkata. We have all come together on a platform in Bengaluru and Kolkata. Protecting the Constitution is the agenda of 23 non-BJP parties,” the chief minister said.
AICC general secretary and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had said the Congress party would contest all 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats alone. “The TDP allied with us only at the national level, so we will have no truck (with it) in the state,” Mr Chandy had said.
The TDP chief on Thursday alleged that the YSR Congress and BJP were engaged in committing crimes and heinous acts while the TRS wanted an inefficient person in power. “All these (parties) only know to hatch conspiracies,” he said. Mr Naidu referred to his governments decision to earmark five per cent reservation for upper caste Kapus of the ten per cent quota for economically weaker sections provided by the centre recently and wanted to know the YSR Congress and the BJP’s stand on the matter.
The YSR congress chief, Jagan Mohan Reddy, previously said Kapu reservation was not in his purview and now he is opposing five per cent quota to the community, Mr Naidu claimed. The Chief Minister said his government not only fulfilled all promises made in the TDPs 2014 election manifesto but also did much more. “We promised Rs. 1000 as (social security) pension but now we have enhanced it to Rs. 2000. We promised Rs. 10,000 each to self-help group women but are now giving Rs. 20,000. We doubled the income of 97 per cent farmers in the state,” Mr Naidu claimed.
