Join BJP But Not YSRC Or TRS: Chandrababu Naidu's 'No Objection Certificate' To Outgoing TDP Leaders

In what can be termed as an attempt to restore ties with the BJP, its former NDA ally TDP has opted for a unique approach. Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu is reportedly giving ‘no objection certificates’ to party’s outgoing leaders and advising them to join the BJP. No, its not a literal certificate per se! Rather, it’s an in-principle agreement between party chief and the leaders that are open to join any party generally or BJP particularly. But there’s a twist in the tale. The leaders have been advised that they can’t join YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh and TRS in Telangana.

This intriguing political development was reported by the Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday. The report said that  TG Venkatesh and Y ‘Sujana’ Chowdary, the two Rajya Sabha lawmakers who left TDP in June, had told Naidu that they will be joining BJP. The Deccan Chronicle report also said that in similar fashion, TDP politburo member Revuri Prakash Reddy joined the BJP recently. After quitting the TDP, CM Ramesh, Garikapati Mohan Rao, TG Venkatesh and YS Chowdary had joined the BJP in presence of Amit Shah in June earlier this year.

TDP’s political performance has been dismal in both Assembly and Lok Sabha Elections held this year. The TDP lost 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, and 151 out of 175 Assembly seats to Jaganmohan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in the polls held in May. Interestingly, at the time of the exodus, Naidu had posted an emotion message on twitter. “These crises 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,” Naidu had said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, TDP is trying to corner ruling YSR Congress after the suicide of former state Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao.On Tuesday, Naidu demanded the Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged suicide of former Andhra Pradesh Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao.