BJP-TDP thaw? Chandrababu Naidu’s son feels the warmth as he gets a meeting with Amit Shah

G Kishan Reddy and D Purandeswari, the presidents of the BJP’s Telangana and Andhra Pradesh units, were present at the meeting.

Speaking to a select group of journalists, Lokesh, the TDP general secretary, said politics was not discussed during the meeting. However, the presence of Reddy and Purandeswari, who is also Lokesh’s aunt, indicates that the discussion may not have only been about Naidu’s arrest and the corruption cases against him.

Lokesh elaborately explained to Amit Shah ji about the vindictiveness of the state government and leaders at the helm of affairs. Now those who blame the Centre need to reply as to why Amit Shah ji would give an appointment to Lokesh if the BJP was behind the arrest! pic.twitter.com/tLUAXkPF4Z

— Daggubati Purandeswari 🇮🇳 (@PurandeswariBJP) October 11, 2023

Shah’s meeting with Lokesh incidentally came days after the senior BJP leader met Andhra Pradesh CM and YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Neither the TDP nor the YSRCP is averse to a tie-up with the BJP, and the party, it seems, is weighing its options ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

A part of the NDA earlier, the TDP had walked out in 2018 citing the Modi government’s refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Though the TDP expected gains from this in the 2019 Assembly elections, it had lost badly and has since failed to recover much ground. Recently, it has been making overtures for a return to the BJP, helped by mutual friend Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena Party.

Lokesh declined to talk about whether the TDP would tie up with the BJP ahead of the coming poll season. He said Shah expressed his sympathies over Naidu being in custody for a month and told him to “be strong”, while accusing the YSRCP of attempts to blame the BJP for the cases.

Lokesh appreciated Shah’s clarification, saying that senior YSRCP leaders had been signalling that the BJP was behind the cases against Naidu, and that the BJP national leadership’s silence had strengthened this suspicion.

Lokesh also said that he had got a call from Reddy regarding the meeting with Shah, and that he had rushed to Delhi to meet the Home Minister. “He (Shah) was very kind… I explained to him all the facts and the legal position. He also enquired about the case for which I was called for questioning,” said Lokesh.

He said Shah enquired about Naidu’s health. “I told him that he is not able to bear the warm weather, in Rajahmundry jail. It is very humid. He had suffered from dehydration,” Lokesh said, adding that he had also flagged the issue of Naidu’s safety as several Naxalites were lodged in the same jail.

Naidu has been in judicial remand since September 11 in connection with a case regarding the Skill Development Department. He has also been booked in Amaravati Inner Road alignment and FiberNet scam-related cases.

Lokesh said he told Shah that the cases were nothing but “regime revenge” and political vendetta.

Purandeswari posted on X: “Lokesh elaborately explained to Amit Shah ji about the vindictiveness of the state government and leaders at the helm of affairs. Now those who blame the Centre need to reply as to why Amit Shah ji would give an appointment to Lokesh if the BJP was behind the arrest!”.