TDP, BJP leaders cross swords again

    Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Somu Veeraraju and Telugu Desam MLC Y.B. Rajendra Prasad crossed swords on whose party “was the deciding factor” in their victory in the coming 2014 elections.

Speaking to the electronic media on Monday on Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Veeraraju said the party would win the majority of the seats in the 2019 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and that the Telugu Desam could form the government in 2014 because of its alliance with the BJP. Reacting to this, Mr. Rajendra Prasad said Mr. Veeraraju would not even win as a councillor and that he was talking way beyond his stature.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is abroad, came to know about the war of words and reportedly gave instruction to his party leaders not to speak without permission. The leaders should desist from making statements that affect relations with its political allies.

Continuing from where he left on Monday, Mr. Veeraraju addressed media on Tuesday and reminded Mr. Prasad that his party had proved its worth in 1998 and 1999 elections and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which contested alone in 2009 was defeated. It was easy to see how much influence the TDP had in A.P. and the BJP in Gujarat. In 2014, three parties (the TDP, the BJP and the Janasena) managed 1% more votes than the YSR Congress.

The BJP alone got 8% more votes than the Congress in Gujarat. Countering the argument, Mr. Prasad said the percentage of votes with which a party had won was not that important. The people were keeping a close watch on both the BJP and the TDP and they knew who was the deciding factor, he said.

Mr. Veerraju said the BJP was becoming stronger because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2019 elections in the State would be very different.

“We are not even able to get housing or pension for the for the party sympathisers and activists in A.P.,” he complained. It was the Centre that gave funds, but the credit and awards went to the State government and Ministers like Nara Lokesh. After repeated requests, a small photo of Mr. Modi was placed next to Mr. Lokesh, he recalled.