After facing a humiliating loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh state assembly elections, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu has now openly regretted his decision to quit the BJP-led NDA government.
According to the reports, former Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu while addressing a public rally at the coastal district of Visakhapatnam hosted by party members regretted over his decision to quit the BJP-led NDA government.
In several closed-door meetings, Naidu had also expressed similar kind of regrets with regard to joining hands with the Congress in the Telangana elections, where both the parties suffered humiliation at the hands of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
On Saturday, the TDP party president also acknowledged that his decision to pull out of the Narendra Modi-led government in May 2018 dealt a big blow to his TDP in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections this year.
“We pulled out of the BJP-led government and withdrew our Ministers from the Union Cabinet to press our demands on Amaravati, Polavaram and Special status for Andhra. This move has backfired and the party has suffered a lot because of that decision,” said Naidu.
Reportedly, Naidu also spoke about the real meaning behind the friendly caution thrown by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a debate on the no-confidence motion proposed by TDP in Parliament. He was quoted saying, “The PM has said that TDS has fallen into the trap of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). PM had also warned me not to take a hasty decision and stay in the NDA.”
Expressing regret over joining hands with the Congress, the TDP chief had earlier said that people have not accepted his affiliation with the Congress. “I have taken the decision to share seats with Congress in Telangana. We fared miserably. Halfway through I have realized that it was a grave mistake, but it was too late,” Naidu had said.
Interestingly, the BJP has made no comments on the reconciliation efforts made by former ally Naidu. “BJP President Amit Shah has then told Naidu that the doors are closed for him and his regional party with the NDA,” a senior leader from BJP has pointed out.
The disastrous results in the 2019 elections have pushed the TDP into a corner as it is now facing an existential battle as most of its cadre and senior leaders have left the party to join the BJP post the 2019 elections rout. Recently, in a huge setback to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, nearly 60 prominent national, state and district level leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with thousands of party workers had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In June, four out of the six Telugu Desam Party MPs had resigned from the party. S Chowdary, CM Ramesh, TG Venkatesh, the TDP MPs from Andhra Pradesh and lone party MP from Telangana Garikapati Mohan Rao had passed a resolution following their decision to quit the party and had joined BJP.
