The BJP AP leaders are a worried lot these days on what happens to their party’s fate in the state. They are attacking TDP since CM Chandrababu Naidu has taken a total aggressive stand against the Modi government. BJP MLC Somu Veerraju says if the TDP continues this kind of anti-BJP politics, it will meet with the same fate as that of Shiv Sena.

In the highly competitive politics of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena has dominated for several decades but in 2014 this party broke its long ties with the BJP and contested separately. In the results, BJP emerged the single largest party while Sena got the second position. Finally, Shiv Sena had to give support to the BJP to form the government and also joined it later. Initially, Sena used to be a stronger party but slowly the BJP got greater strength there.

Veerraju’s calculations have gone wrong in this aspect. For decades, the BJP has tried to strengthen itself in Andhra but it has failed considerably. After NTR formed the TDP on the plank of Telugu self-respect, there was little scope for a non-Congress national party to capture space in AP. The BJP could never emerge as a contender for power in AP. Now, the BJP is at its lowest point as it is being accused of denying funds and support to AP’s projects like Polavaram and Capital City. The BJP is also facing criticism for not giving special status. But BJP leaders feel they can play a role to reduce TDP to the position of Shiv Sena by helping opposition parties YCP and Jana Sena.

G.Ravkiran