The Telugu Desam Party will join the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu announced here on Tuesday.
Mr. Naidu, who arrived in the national capital on Monday night, had a series of meetings with BJP leaders, including Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and BJP president Rajnath Singh.
The TDP, which fought the election in alliance with the BJP, won 16 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra. It is not immediately known how many berths the party has demanded in the Council of Ministers.
BJP managers are still in the process of working out a formula on the number of ministers to be offered to each ally. “It would of course be in proportion to the number of seats they hold in Parliament. But the main issue is portfolios. It would be worked out perhaps by weekend,” a senior BJP leader said.
Mr. Naidu, who was present at the NDA meeting after Mr. Modi was elected leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party, in his congratulatory speech, said the country would benefit under Mr. Modi.
At a news conference here, Mr. Naidu said: “We are joining the government. The TDP was part of four non-Congress governments at the Centre. We will also be part of the NDA as well,” he stated.
Asked about his arch-rival YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy calling on Mr. Modi on Monday, the TDP leader said that for him it was “not a big issue.” Notwithstanding the assertion of Mr. Naidu, indications are that senior TDP leaders were caught unawares by the meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Reddy.
“The very fact that Mr. Modi gave time to the YSR Congress chief is a signal to the TDP chief that he has support outside the NDA as well,” according to a BJP leader. At his news conference, Mr. Naidu took credit for the development of the Telangana region in general and Hyderabad as a hi-tech city in particular, and maintained that he would spur growth in the Seemandhra region.
“From day one, I have a vision for Seemandhra that needs to be executed. We will take the help of NRIs and experts to develop the State,” he added.
Asked whether his chief ministership would be the most challenging job in the country, Mr. Naidu said “there is a crisis, there is an opportunity ... That is my nature, I will prove it.”
