TDP may back BJP

NEW DELHI, March 27: The Telugu Desam Party seems all set to reciprocate the BJP gesture of supporting its Speaker candidate. The party is likely to support the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in the vote of confidence tomorrow.

Even as TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu claims that his party will remain neutral during the vote of confidence, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana’s list of speakers from the parties supporting the motion has the name of TDP floor leader Yerran Naidu besides representatives from its formal allies. The TDP’s stated position so far is that it will remain neutral, but a final decision will be taken only tomorrow, few hours before the motion is put to vote. “Our brief as of now is that we will neither oppose nor defend the government. We will speak about the regional aspiration that we believe in,” TDP sources said, adding, “no whip has been issued as yet”. Sources felt that mention of Naidu’s name in the list of supporters of the motiononly “showed over-enthusiasm” on the part of the BJP Government.