Photographs of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu shaking hands with BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi splashed in newspapers earlier this week have finally confirmed reports that the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is close to striking an alliance with the BJP. Talks of him returning to the NDA fold have been going on in the political circles for a long time. And now, Naidu’s unabashed praise of NDA rule at the Centre and that of Modi’s reign in Gujarat have all endorsed his earlier soft moves towards the saffron party.
Interestingly, it was the BJP which stood to gain more from the alliance with TDP in AP in 1998 and 1999 - the number of BJP MLAs and MPs from the state witnessed a jump like never before.
Naidu has projected himself as a secularist. In reality, as human rights activist Harsh Mandar has said, he belongs to the political genre of ‘secular opportunists.’ In the past, he has been an alliance partner of the Communists and the TRS, not to mention the BJP. After facing a debacle in 2004 elections, Naidu has often said that one of the factors for the defeat was his alliance with the BJP. He conceded that the Muslim voters had deserted the TDP en-mass. He even extended his apologies to the Muslim voters, but the voters were not impressed. Though some of them returned to the TDP in 2009 elections, the majority stayed with the Congress.
The sharing of dais with BJP leader L K Advani in Hyderabad in 1999 had prompted some political observers to believe that it was a major turning point in Chandrababu Naidu’s political career. Sharing the dais with Modi now is another similar milestone, they feel.
Unfortunately, the Muslim leadership in the TDP has never had a say in the party affairs. Even when in power Naidu never felt the need to discuss policy matters with leaders of the community which included veterans like Lal Jan Basha, N Farooque, Basheeruddin Babukhan, Ahmed Shareef and Yousuf Ali. However, when Naidu decided to support NDA, it was Babukhan who stood up against his decision and resigned from his ministerial berth. It was expected then that Lal Jan Basha and Farooque too would follow Babukhan, but that didn’t happen.
Now, the latest indications of the party’s truck with BJP has prompted at least one senior Muslim leader, Zahed Ali Khan, to declare that he would quit the TDP if that happens. There were reports of Mohammed Saleem, the lone Muslim TDP member in the legislative council, toeing the same line. But when contacted by the TOI, he said, “I am not sure whether the TDP would align with the BJP. I will take a call if and when it happens.”
Political observers say that the Muslim leadership in the TDP has always remained on the margins. Even now when Naidu is evidently cozying up to the BJP, he has not discussed the subject with any Muslim leader including the senior-most member in the party, Farooque. Jittery over their future when some Muslim leaders met him on a oneon-one basis recently, he reportedly evaded direct answers to their queries.
The Muslim leadership in the TDP is a worried lot. Many of them have spent their lifetime with the party. “Even if I decide to quit which party would take me and give ticket to fight election? Secondly, I personally believe that Naidu would remain a secularist and may even try to prevent the BJP from taking any harsh anti-minority stand,” said a senior leader pleading anonymity.
The largely ineffective Muslim leadership in the TDP is likely to remain with the party even if it goes for an alliance with the BJP with Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. But the Muslim voters are not as obliged. They believe Modi to be a stridently anti-Muslim leader and would therefore look at Naidu as an influential politician who is knowingly and willingly serving against their interests. We all know what it means.
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