TDP tries hard to keep folks together; Naidu dials leaders

The crisis-hit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has taken its battle to Delhi, with its MPs trading charges and counter charges with defectors.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on a foreign trip, tried to marshal his remaining forces on a fire-fighting mode. He reached out to party leaders through a teleconference and individual telephone calls in the past 24 hours discussing the crisis and steps to face the situation.

Consequently, five of the remaining MPs out of the total 9 — three in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha — on Friday met Vice-President and Chairman of the Upper House M Venkaiah Naidu and urged him to disqualify the four Rajya Sabha MPs who defected on Thursday and joined the BJP. They argued that the defection and merger into the BJP of the four Rajya Sabha members (out of the total six) of the party was not valid. It was the Election Commission which has to take a call and not the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

Damage control

In an obvious damage control, Naidu got Galla Jayadev, Kesineni Nani and K Rammohan Naidu (LS) and K Ravindra Kumar and Sitalaxmi to come together and represent the party at the meeting with the Vice-president, handing over a letter and showing solidarity.

After the sudden cross-over of four MPs — Y Sujana Chowdhury, TG Venkatesh, Garikapati Rammohan Rao and CM Ramesh — on Thursday, speculation was rife that even the Lok Sabha group would suffer a split.

Rumours are doing the rounds in political circles that the remaining MPs will be suitably given important roles in the party to retain them and halt further damage. Another development that embarrassed the TDP was the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government on Friday taking over the annexe to Naidu’s residence called ‘Praja Vedika’, which the former CM had used for conducting meetings. TDP leaders said the government should have given adequate notice before taking over the building.

BJP denies charge

Refuting claims that the BJP engineered the defections of the four MPs and their joining was not valid, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, said: “YS Chowdhury had given a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretary and due process was followed to merge them into the BJP.”

He said the credibility and performance of the Modi government and the BJP was attracting TDP leaders. Further, factors such as pathetic performance in the recent elections and receding trust in Naidu and Lokesh were accelerating the TDP’s crisis.

Interestingly, two of the MPs — Chowdhury and CM Ramesh — are facing charges and investigations into their businesses. Political opponents are alleging that with the two joining the ruling BJP, the government will now go slow and they could get relief.

Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu tweeted: “These crisis situations are not new to me, not new to the party”. “Earlier, many said TDP is dead. Many said TDP is a closed chapter, Many said leaders are deserting the party and that it will be gone and buried, we never gave up, we came back.”

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