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Journalism of Courage
The stellar performance of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), led by Chandrababu Naidu, in Andhra Pradesh, winning 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats it contested, and the BJP falling short of the half-way mark at the Centre has catapulted the TDP as the second-largest constituent of the BJP-led NDA, thus giving it a strong bargaining hand.
A day after he spearheaded the landslide, Naidu on Wednesday dismissed rumours of his possible switch to the INDIA bloc and affirmed that he is still a part of the NDA. “I am going to New Delhi to attend the NDA meeting. I will let you know if there are any other developments,” he said in his first comments after the Lok Sabha results.
Sources said the TDP supremo is likely to seek Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra, an issue over which he had walked out of the NDA in 2018. The SCS will ensure the state gets more Central funds, higher grants-in-aid to the state government and industrial incentives like income tax exemption, custom duty waivers, GST concessions among others.
The TDP chief is also likely to seek additional funds from the Centre to restart the development of Amaravati as the state capital, a project which was stalled after Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress (YSRCP) stormed to power in 2019. Several buildings and apartment complexes built during Naidu’s regime between 2014 and 2019 lie vacant today while civic infrastructure decays.
Naidu, who will take oath as Andhra CM on June 9, intends to start developing the capital city. Tatikonda MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar has said he will come out with a vision document for Amaravati within 100 days of coming to power.
Another demand that Naidu is likely to put forward is funds for the completion of the long-pending Polavaram project, a promise TDP leaders said he has made during campaigning in the run-up to the elections.
TDP insiders say he is also likely to seek several key portfolios in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet and even demand the Speaker’s post. He is also looking to elevate his son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, who secured his maiden victory from Managalagiri in the Assembly election, to the national stage.
Naidu, who claimed the Jagan government indulged in large scale corruption in Andhra, is also likely to urge the NDA to allow central agencies to investigate the “scams” and Jagan.
