Opinion Naidu flirts with BJP,leaves his old friends guessing
It seemed,the TDP is not gaining even from the slide in Congresss fortune.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu is in the national capital to virtually launch TDPs IPO (read Initial Political Offering). Blame it on negative sentiments,nobody is evincing much interest in what he has to offer,except BJP which is looking beyond electoral gains. What has also not helped his cause is the lukewarm response his recent self-respect bus yatra in Seemandhra generated despite strong united Andhra sentiments. It seemed,the TDP is not gaining even from the slide in Congresss fortune.
Over the weekend,Naidu met leaders across political spectrum Sitaram Yechury,Prakash Karat,Sharad Yadav,A B Bardhan and,lo and behold,Rajnath Singh. The Comrades were curious about his appointment with the BJP president but they didnt ask him and he didnt tell them.
For the past 10 years,he has been taking great pains to convince them that he had committed a blunder by supporting the BJP-led NDA. This time though,Naidu chose to leave his old friends guessing about his dalliance with BJP and instead shared his anxiety about the Congresss attempt to bring on board TRS in Telangana and YSR Congress in Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra regions.
Naidu is staunch believer in no-permanent-friend-or-foe-in-politics saying. Convenor of the United Front in the 1990s,he had moved on to support the NDA regime only to return to the so-called secular brigade a few years later. In 2008,he was promoting the UNPA as the third political alternative. In 2013 again,as he breaks bread with Left leaders,he has been quick to endorse Mamata Banerjees idea for a federal front.
As Naidu weighs his options in the next elections,he is said to be under pressure from party colleagues,especially those from the corporate sector,to bet on Narendra Modi. The TDP chief himself is said to be convinced about Modis wave. Adding to this is the calculation that Modis OBC credential could help TDP in Telangana where there is sizeable backward castes population. As for Muslims constituting about 8 to 14 per cent of the population in different regions Naidu is said to be prepared to take the risk.
And,yet,he is not ready to go public about his alliance plans. His secular friends want him first see post-poll arithmetic before jumping on BJPs bandwagon. In political wilderness for 10 years,Naidu is said to have different ideas though,and one may hear them sooner than later. For Modi-led BJP,TDPs return could more than make up for the JD(U) in terms of public perception and its political leverage in a coalition era.
D K is a senior editor based in Delhi dk.singh@expressindia.com
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