Amravati: The BJP’s biggest ally in the South, the Telugu Desam Party, is “disappointed” that finance minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget+ did not address the state’s needs but the party won’t opt out of the alliance yet, TDP sources said.
This was indicated by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at a meeting of the party’s coordination committee here today, the sources said.
Discussion at the meeting centred around the Narendra Modi government’s treatment of Andhra Pradesh and the “injustice” heaped on the state in the budget proposals, the sources said.
However, there is a “strong mood” among TDP leaders to break away from the alliance with the BJP, the sources said.
There was no formal communication about what transpired at the meeting, but some senior TDP leaders said off the record that almost everyone, including many district unit chiefs, wanted the TDP to end the alliance with the BJP after the Budget “ignored” the state.
The party sources said that Naidu apparently dissuaded his senior party colleagues from speaking about the fate of the alliance with the BJP and dwelt on the Rajasthan bypoll results where the BJP tasted defeat.
The TDP sources said that according to Naidu, the bypoll results are a clear example that people will be unsparing if governance is not good.
PTi