Telugu Desam Party found itself in an awkward position with regard to the raw deal given to Andhra Pradesh in the union budget presented to the Parliament yesterday.
There had been no quick reaction on the budget proposals from the ruling party. Neither did party president Chandrababu Naidu nor his general secretary-son Nara Lokesh react on the budget proposal adequately. It took nearly seven hours for the party to give muted reaction after the politburo meeting chaired by the party president himself.
Emerging from the meeting at Vijayawada finance minister and politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnu said state was given a raw deal in the budget.
He said the politburo discussed the subject and expressed dissatisfaction. Beyond this there was no elaboration as to why the party felt dissatisfied on the budget.
He, however, hastened to add that it was not the intention of the party to fight with the NDA government.
” The party wanted to express its displeasure. This is all for now,” he said stating that the allocation for Polavaram project was too low.
According to party sources, chief minister and party president Chandrababu Naidu expressed serious dissatisfaction over the budget proposals inside the politburo meeting. He is said to have informed the meeting that none of the issues he had raised during his meetings with PM, FM and HM found mention in the budget. But Naidu was not ready to make his displeasure apparent.
Party sources said Naidu had instructed the party leaders against going hammer and tongs at the budget in the wake of BJP national president Amit Shah’s proposed visit to Rajahmundry on March 6.
“Even though the CM was unhappy, he doesn’t want it become cause for rupture in the NDA-TDP relations. Many state BJP leaders are eagerly waiting for an opportunity to dissociate from TDP and chart independent course . A strong protest is likely to be misinterpreted by the hawks in the state BJP. This is not good for the party at a time when TRS is walking an extra mile to join NDA government at the centre. So Naidu refrained from reacting on the budget and simply asked finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu to give a vague and abstract reaction on the budget,” sources told telugu360.com.
That the hawks in the state BJP are still active is evident from the statement issued by former BJP minister Krishnam Raju two days ago. Krishnam Raju, who normally never indulges in the political comments, unleashed a scathing attack on TDP and its ‘big-brother’ attitude towards BJP.
Naidu can’t afford to lose the friendship of NDA at this juncture, despite the apathy being shown by the centre on towards state-specific demands of Andhra Pradesh. This is the reason for TDP’s muted reaction on the budget proposals.
A comparison of the reactions from Andhra Pradesha and Telangana will show the predicament of Naidu with regard to the BJP and budget proposals.
The TRS was quick to welcome the budget proposals, TDP’s reaction was inadequate and delayed inordinately.
Minutes after the finance minister Arun Jaitley tabled the finance bill in the Lok Sabha, TRS Karimnagar MP B Vinodkumar hailed the budget as the progressive and pro-growth.
Later party Nizambad MP and daughter of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was all praise of the budget. She said her party was satisfied with the allocation made to rural development, agriculture.
On the other hand no TDP MP came before the cameras to give his quick reaction in New Delhi. The party’s confusion was confounded by TDP’s union minister Sujana Chaudary, who is also the TDPP leader, who praised budget as great exercise.
Though Industrialist Chaudary’s aim was to attract the attention of finance minister, it made the party uncomfortable and ill at ease.
