While Jagan Mohan Reddy’s release on bail ahead of the 2014 elections led to speculation of likely tie-up between the Congress and the YSRC, in all probability it will also hasten the process of TDP’s alliance with the BJP.
After TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu met BJP president Rajnath Singh recently, it was clear that the former allies were coming together. For BJP, the tie-up would mean netting an ally in its depleted NDA, as it would like to showcase sufficient number of partners with Narendra Modi as the PM candidate. However, for the TDP, the tie-up with BJP would be a matter of survival.
“Despite embarking on a state-wide yatra, Naidu has not been able to enthuse his workers, who are feeling restless over emergence of Jagan. Left with little choice in the Seemandhra region, TDP feels BJP maybe the best bet, hoping that Modi’s popularity may also work in its favour,” a BJP leader said.
As Jagan’s party won 15 out of the 18 Assembly seats in the region during last year’s bypoll, the TDP is worried that the YSRC has the edge. Launching BJP’s general election campaign in Hyderabad on August 11, Modi had signalled to TDP to re-align with NDA saying “the party should follow the legacy of its founder-president NT Rama Rao and join forces to make India Congress-free”.
By taking a pro-Telangana stance, the BJP has been in a corner in Seemandhra region. On the other hand, despite favouring the state’s division, it’s doubtful whether BJP could make any real gains in Telangana.
But the tie-up with TDP for Seemandhra is likely to improve its chances, the BJP leaders claim.
The BJP on Tuesday attacked the Congress saying it had misused the CBI in Jagan’s disproportionate asset case.
Bail to Jagan raised several questions as he was kept in custody for 16 months with 10 chargesheets having been filed against him in a staggered manner over an protracted period. Now, the CBI had softened its stand against Jagan and said it has not found enough material against him in seven of those cases, thus facilitating his bail, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman alleged here. Some cabinet ministers in the Andhra Pradesh government were also named as accused along with Jagan, but none of them, with the exception of Mopidevi Venkataramana, had been arrested, she said.
The government had adopted double standards and was misusing CBI, she alleged.
