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Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who achieved tremendous victory in the just-concluded assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh by winning 135 assembly seats in the 175-member assembly, is all set to form the government in another four days.
Naidu, who is presently in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jana Sena Party, is leaving for New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon to take part in the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance partners in the evening.
Since BJP has fallen short of the majority mark of 272 in Parliament, Naidu is going to play a crucial role in the formation of NDA government along with Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (U). So, it is the best chance for Naidu to get the best bargain for Andhra Pradesh.
Now, the question is whether Naidu will put forth his old demand of granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh, which was the reason for the TDP coming out of the NDA in 2018.
The Congress has posed the same question to Naidu asking him whether he would have the courage to demand special category status for Andhra Pradesh as a non-negotiable precondition for support to the BJP-led NDA at the Centre.
The poser to Naidu from Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh came amid talks of the possibility of the INDIA bloc reaching out to the TDP, which won 11 Lok Sabha seats and was leading on five more in Andhra Pradesh by late Tuesday evening.
"Will you have the courage to demand special category status for Andhra Pradesh as a non-negotiable precondition for support to the NDA at the Centre?" Ramesh asked on X, tagging a post of Naidu on the microblogging platform in which he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated him on the NDA's poll victory.
"Thank you, @narendramodi Ji! On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, I congratulate you on the NDA's victory in the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. Our people of Andhra Pradesh have blessed us with a remarkable mandate. This mandate is a reflection of their trust in our alliance and its vision for the state," Naidu said in the post on X.
"Together with our people, we shall rebuild Andhra Pradesh and restore its glory," he added.
In his reaction to the NDA heading for a huge majority in Andhra Pradesh, Modi had congratulated Naidu and another ally, Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena.
"We will work for the all-round progress of and ensure the state prospers in the times to come," he said.
Earlier, the Congress said it is its guarantee that it will give special category status to Andhra Pradesh, as promised by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, if it comes to power at the Centre.
"INDIA will finish the unfinished business of 2014: On Feb 14th 2014, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh pledged special category status to the new state of Andhra Pradesh for 5 years. BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu countered by saying BJP if elected to power will extend it for 10 years. Two months later Narendra Modi, in the holy city of Tirupati, repeated the promise," Ramesh said on X.
"For the past 10 years the outgoing Modi government did nothing," he added.
The BJP-led Centre, in fact, abolished the very policy of special category status to financially-distressed states, the Congress leader said.
"The Indian National Congress has in its 2024 election manifesto pledged to declare special category status to Andhra Pradesh as promised by Dr Manmohan Singh. This is our guarantee," Ramesh said.
