Anti-incumbency and ‘brand Modi’ will help NDA partners win the elections in Andhra Pradesh, says BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh

The TDP and BJP have buried the hatchet to form a larger group along with the JSP with the aim of unseating the YSR Congress Party government in the State, he says; Amaravati will continue to be the State’s capital, but the High Court can be shifted to Kurnool, he adds

The YSRCP government did not carry out the Central government’s welfare schemes, for which it would pay the price, says Siddharth Nath Singh, A.P. BJP in-charge for elections. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI

The TDP-BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance is of the fond hope that the anti-incumbency factor caused by “pure misgovernance” of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), coupled with the magic of ‘brand Modi’, will secure a comfortable victory for it in the general elections.

“It is true that the BJP and TDP were allies in 2014. It was due to certain misunderstandings that we parted ways. But in the due course, the two parties sorted out those differences and have come back together for a cause, which is to bring curtains down on the YSRCP government,” observed Siddharth Nath Singh, former Uttar Pradesh Minister and A.P. BJP in-charge for elections.

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu here on April 5 (Friday), Mr. Singh recalled that the alliance with the TDP had started during the time of former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, and they indeed had differences over a period of time, but then they buried the hatchet for the stated cause and became a larger group now, including the JSP.

He exuded confidence that the alliance would romp home comfortably in the elections by pointing out that the YSRCP squandered the advantage of being a formidable party with an impressive 22 Lok Sabha seats and 151 members in the Legislative Assembly.

The YSRCP government did not carry out the Central government’s welfare schemes, and delayed the centrally-sponsored projects by design, for which it would pay the price. It was because Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was scared that he called the BJP-TDP-JSP alliance as opportunistic.

Mr. Singh claimed that the Centre had extended substantial financial assistance to the State, but the Jagan Mohan Reddy government failed to avail of it properly, and instead deprived the poor people of many schemes.

As far as the State’s capital was concerned, Mr. Singh said there was neither confusion nor a change in the BJP’s stand that the capital should remain in Amaravati, while insisting that the High Court could be shifted to Kurnool, by arguing that the “capital narrative does not mean courts, the court (High Court) is not government.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation for the capital in Amaravati, and there was no reason to change it, the BJP leader observed, saying that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government should have built it, but took a different path.

Advice to Y.S. Sharmila

A.P. Congress president Y.S. Sharmila should educate herself on the State’s demand for Special Category Status (SCS0 as she seemed to have not properly read the Terms & Conditions laid down in the 14th Finance Commission report, he suggested.