While blaming the ‘reactions of junior leadership on both sides’ for straining his party’s relations with the TDP, the BJP’s Andhra Pradesh affairs in-charge Sidharth Nath Singh has asserted that the alliance will not break up in spite of the party’s desire to grow on its own.
“The fact that we (BJP and TDP) are anti-Congress and anti-YSR Congress (YSRC) should be remembered. Many YSRC MLAs might have joined TDP but a large number of voters who were with the Congress and YSRC are moving towards the BJP”, he observed.
In an interview to The Hindu , Mr. Singh said the leaders of the TDP and BJP had got good chemistry going on between them and trust each other. He said the pressure mounted by Opposition parties and some criticism in the media by analysts made our junior leaders react and that harmed us. However, the understanding has improved a lot and the communication strategy we (Mr. Singh and TDP MP Y.S. Chowdary) have put in place is yielding the result.”
Mr. Singh said both the BJP and TDP are 100 per cent focused on development of the State and wherever they fell short of expectations things were being explained in a transparent manner. “There is a perception built that the BJP is not doing enough for A.P and our opponents have taken advantage of it. We will address the issues jointly,” he said.
Special Category Status
On Special Category Status (SCS), Mr. Singh said, “It was a Constitutional position that was reversed once the 14th Finance Commission came into existence on the very premise of higher devolution to States. When that is happening and the federal structure is becoming stronger, something has to be given up. You either let the 14th Finance Commission go or have SCS.” He seemed to suggest that it was up to the States to make a wise choice. Asked whether the Central government had suspicions about the financial accounts submitted by AP, Mr. Singh said the Centre was like an auditor and State an accountant and discrepancies in accounts were technical issues to be sorted out. “Wrong or higher accounts will not be passed off just like that. The State will obviously not ask money for what has not materialized and we will not hold back any assistance for things taking tangible shape,” he added.
