Bharateeya Janata Party national president Amit Shah has clarified that the party's expansion mission did not mean it would work against the ruling Telugu Desam Party. The BJP has set an ambitious target of enrolling 45 lakh members in Andhra Pradesh as part of its ongoing membership drive.
“In the multi-party democracy, we have the right to expand. But, it does not mean we will work against the TDP which is our alliance partner at the State and national level,” Mr. Shah said at a press conference here on Friday.
Responding to queries on whether the BJP would go it alone in the 2019 elections, he said that it was not an appropriate time to think about such issues. Voters gave a joint mandate to the TDP-BJP combine in the previous elections and the party’s ties with the TDP were strong, he opined. There was no gap between the two parties or difference of opinion and the two were working together for the development of the State and the country, he added.
The BJP president said that the party had decided to enrol 10 crore members across the country as part of the ongoing drive and Andhra Pradesh would play an important role in the party’s affairs. The party would reach out to people and explain them about its policies. “We will welcome all those who appreciate our policies,” he said.
Asked about the delay in according special status to the State, he said that the Central Government should accord due priority to the newly formed State in line with the AP State Reorganisation Act in such a manner that there was no scope for favouritism in the federal structure. On reports that former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was willing to join the BJP, but the coalition compulsions were preventing his entry into the party, he said that the BJP would take its own decisions and would not depend on the alliance partners.
Union Minister and former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu said that there was a political vacuum after the people rejected the Congress outright in the State. The BJP was looking at filling the space to emerge as a strong party in AP.
