BJP taunts Jagan, Chandrababu, Pawan Kalyan like tail wagging the dog

AMARAVATI: It is a clear cut case of tail wagging the dog in Andhra Pradesh as the principal parties – the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-Jana Sena Party combine – are subservient to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Interestingly, the BJP, with less stake pulling less votes than NOTA (None of the Above) in the State, is controlling the major contenders in AP.

Be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah or Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, all of them have been giving appointments to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at regular intervals, blowing hot, cold on him. The YSRCP’s comfortable electoral position with welfare schemes is one of the major reasons for the BJP being keen on surreptitiously backing the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government.

So far, YS Jagan has also never made any remarks against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre and has been supporting the BJP at every crucial juncture. However, the BJP springs a surprise for YS Jagan, indicating that it is not absolutely friendly with the YSRCP. Adding fuel to the fire in the current political atmosphere, Amit Shah gave an appointment to TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh in New Delhi on Wednesday and allowed him to discuss the political scenario in the State after the arrest of his father Chandrababu Naidu in the AP Skill Development Corporation scam.

Earlier, during a special function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan where a commemorative coin of NT Rama Rao was released on the occasion of his birth centenary by President Droupadi Murmu, Chandrababu Naidu, along with State president Daggubati Purandeshwari, met BJP national president JP Nadda in New Delhi on August 28. The meeting sparked rumors of a patch-up alliance between the two parties ahead of the 2024 elections in Andhra Pradesh. However, the BJP treads with caution when it comes to Naidu as he had been guilty of breaking the alliance with the NDA not just once, but twice.

Initially, in 1998, Naidu provided outside support to the NDA and made Atal Bihari Vajpayee the Prime Minister. The TDP quit the NDA after it lost the general election in 2004. Almost a decade later, the TDP once again joined hands with the BJP and stated that the alliance was meant for the benefit of the State and country. However in March 2018, Naidu came out of the NDA and blamed the Modi Government’s refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

As a consequence, the BJP, which has been enjoying power in Delhi since 2014 and has all the enforcement agencies at its disposal, proposed raids against the TDP. As part of it, the BJP scooped out four TDP Rajya Sabha MPs - Y S Chowdary aka Sujana Chowdary, T G Venkatesh, C M Ramesh and Garikapati Mohan Rao.

Among them, Sujana Chowdary was facing charges of bank fraud of Rs 364 crore and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also carried out raids in his residence. Ramesh, who is also close to Naidu, faced I-T raids with regard to the financial dealings of a company of which he is the director. At that time, Ramesh had alleged that the I-T raids were being conducted due to political vendetta. However, both of them joined the BJP to protect themselves from cases being filed upon them. This was a subtle hint given by the BJP to the TDP about the consequences of snapping ties with them.

When it comes to Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan, the actor-turned politician was in crossroads after the arrest of Naidu. Pawan Kalyan, who launched his party almost a decade ago, extended his support to the TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 for the larger interests of Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation of the State. The Jana Sena president even stayed away from contesting in the Assembly elections in 2014.

However, in 2018, Pawan Kalyan came out of the NDA over the special category status to AP. In the 2019 elections, Jana Sena contested in 146 Assembly constituencies and allotted the remaining seats to Communist parties and the BSP. However, the Jana Sena faced a humiliating defeat and won just a single seat with a meager 7.24 per cent vote share in the State. In 2020, Pawan Kalyan joined hands with the BJP to protect the interests of the people in the State.

The announcement was made after a meeting took place on January 16, 2020 in Vijayawada between leaders of both parties amid unrest in Andhra Pradesh's Amravati region owing to the YSRCP Government's proposal for three capitals. In the last four years, Pawan Kalyan agitated against the YSRCP Government’s policies. Be it supporting tenant farmers or voicing for SCs and STs, the actor-turned politician led protests from the front. After Naidu’s arrest, Pawan Kalyan once again announced Jana Sena’s electoral alliance with the TDP after meeting the latter at Rajamahendravaram Central Jail.

Currently, Pawan Kalyan is pulling all his efforts for the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance in AP to dethrone the YSRCP Government from power in 2024. In this regard, Pawan Kalyan also planned to meet the BJP leaders in Delhi and convince them for inclusion of the TDP into the NDA for the larger interests of the State. However, the BJP has been on cold feet with regards to his proposal.

As part of its broader strategy to put a check to Naidu, who is her brother-in-law and make inroads into AP to prepare the party for the general elections, the BJP appointed Daggubati Purandeswari as State president in July 2023. Political experts predicted Purandeswari’s appointment as the AP BJP president would benefit the ruling YSRCP as she would naturally attract TDP votes due to her relation with NTR. However, the TDP leaders ruled out the possibility of Purandeswari splitting TDP votes and stated that NTR’s popularity is not limited to one caste or party.

While Jagan is on bail, Chandrababu Naidu is in jail. Pawan Kalyan is accused of being ‘on sale’. The BJP which is enjoying the mad race among the three wants to continue the show with all the major players.