As BJP-led NDA and Opposition parties hold meetings to chalk out 2024 poll strategies, the AIMIM, BRS, TDP, YSRCP have been left out.
Chandrababu Naidu, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Asaduddin Owaisi, K Chandrashekar Rao.
Four regional parties in the two Telugu states — the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Telangana, and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh — are neither in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nor among the Opposition parties yet, as the two camps begin to sharpen their strategies for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Though the BRS and the AIMIM in Telangana are two very powerful anti-BJP forces, they have been left out of the two-day Opposition parties’ conference which began in Bengaluru on Monday, 17 July.
Similarly, the YSRCP and the TDP — again, two important regional parties who share an up-and-down relationship with the BJP — were not invited to the NDA meeting in Delhi on Tuesday.
Only Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena, an alliance partner of the BJP, was invited to that meeting, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Opposition leaders have to answer why they have not invited us,” B Vinod Kumar, former BRS MP and vice-chairman of the Telangana State Planning Board, told South First.
“The Opposition parties would surely know who is a powerful party working against the BJP after the results of the Assembly elections in December this year,” he said.
The former Parliamentarian, obviously referring to the allegation that the BRS was the B-team of the BJP, said that the election results would be an eye-opener for them as to “who is fighting the BJP and who is not.”
The BRS, whose primary political rival in its home state of Telangana is the Congress, doesn’t seem keen on having an alliance with the same party at the national level.
This is the reason Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao had been campaigning for a non-BJP and non-Congress coalition, as he believed that both of them had failed the nation.
The AIMIM leaders said they always shun both the BJP and the Congress.
“We are against both the Congress and the BJP. The BJP practices hardcore Hindutva ideology while the Congress has come to be identified with soft Hindutva,” said AIMIM leader and former MLC Syed Amin Jafri.
“Somewhere down the line, the Congress and several other parties which are aligning with it have lost their secular credentials,” he told South First while insisting that the AIMIM had nothing to do with either party.
He recalled the days when AB Vajpayee was the prime minister.
At that time, the contentious issues of Ram Janmhabhoomi, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and the abrogation of Article 370 were kept out of the NDA’s agenda, he noted.
However, the BJP is now effectively pursuing them with the support of several “secular” parties, he said, defending the AIMIM stand of opposing both the Congress and the BJP.
The situation is a little different in Andhra Pradesh.
While the ruling YSRCP wants to keep its options open until the 2024 polls, the Opposition TDP has been ignored by both the camps — the NDA and also the anti-BJP grouping.
The TDP wants to be badly on the BJP’s friend list as it needs a powerful party’s backing while it takes on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The reincarnation of N Chandrababu Naidu from being a foe to a friend in the recent past failed to cut any ice with the BJP top brass. Though he called Modi a visionary, it had no impact on the prime minister.
According to one analyst in Vijayawada, “The BJP does not trust Naidu as they have seen how he keeps changing his stand depending on the situation. After winning the 2014 state Assembly elections, the TDP chose to remain in the NDA. In fact, there were two BJP ministers in Naidu’s Cabinet.”
He added: “Then, afraid that his adversary Jagan Mohan Reddy would steal a march over him on the denial of the special category status to Andhra Pradesh, Naidu suddenly turned against Modi just two years ahead of the 2019 elections by initiating a frontal attack on the BJP.”
The analyst continued: “Then he did another thing that was an anathema to the BJP. He shook hands with Rahul Gandhi, hoping to become the fulcrum of the Opposition unity in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Now, the same Naidu wants to be the BJP’s friend. How can the saffron party accept him? He is a persona non grata to the BJP.”
Ahead of the general elections in 2019, Naidu participated in several meetings with West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and they worked to stitch together an anti-BJP front.
Naidu personally travelled to Kolkata to take part in a rally organised by Banerjee, and she in turn participated in a poll campaign in support of Naidu in Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu also roped in leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, to participate in the political campaigning in support of TDP in Andhra Pradesh.
“Polls are still nine months away. There is no hurry to participate in any of these meetings. Things will change dramatically as the polls approach,” TDP spokesperson Neelapalayam Vijay Kumar told South First.
Another TDP leader said it was only for the support in electioneering and poll management that the party has been looking at patching up with the BJP, otherwise the saffron party has little to no presence in Andhra Pradesh.
The invitation extended to Pawan Kalyan to the NDA conclave appears to be an attempt to break the bond between him and Chandrababu Naidu.
“The BJP seems to be gunning for Naidu. That is why it is trying to wean away Pawan Kalyan from his influence,” he said.
As Jagan has his own skeletons in the cupboard, he has to be pally with the BJP, which suits Modi fine.
While YSRCP had never openly endorsed BJP, nor shown any inclination of joining the NDA, the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh has been supporting the saffron party in passing crucial bills in both Houses of Parliament.
As far as the YSRCP is concerned, Jagan is a trusted friend of Modi, but he does not want to associate himself with the BJP openly, for fear of losing Muslim as well as SC Christian votes which are very crucial for him in the elections.
Even though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee invited Jagan in 2022 to participate in a meeting organised with anti-BJP parties, he chose not to attend it, hinting that he was keeping his options open.
YSRCP Rajya Sabha member and Jagan’s top aide, V Vijaysai Reddy said that, in 2024, any government at the Centre would be possible only with YSRCP’s support.
While being friendly with Jagan Mohan Reddy, the BJP appears to have decided to obliterate the TDP over a period and grow in that place.
As the TDP begins losing sheen, the BJP hopes that all its leaders would shift to the BJP as they hate the YSRCP like the plague.
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