With 16 Lok Sabha seats under his belt in the current general elections, Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has once again got an opportunity to play the role of a king maker at the Centre,
The TDP is now the second largest alliance partner of the NDA, after the Bharatiya Janata Party, followed by Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (U) of Bihar, which has 14 MPs.
Since the BJP has fallen short of the magical figure of 272 seats to form the government on its own, it has to invariably depend on the NDA allies.
Since Naidu and Nitish together hold 30 Lok Sabha seats, they will have a crucial role to play in the formation of the Modi government for the third consecutive time.
The TDP chief was instrumental in the formation of three governments at the Centre between 1996 and 1999 – that of H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and later, the Atal Bihari Vajapayee-led NDA government.
After nearly two and a half decades, Naidu got opportunity once again to decide whether it should be the BJP-led NDA government or the I.N.D.I.A government at the Centre.
However, it is unlikely that Naidu would quit the NDA and join hands with the Congress-led INDIA.
Already, he had to pay a heavy price by parting ways with the BJP in 2018 and it took five years to patch up with the saffron party again and get back to power.
“So, it is unlikely that Naidu will dare oppose Modi again,” an analyst said.
Naidu is expected to go to New Delhi on Wednesday to take part in the meeting of NDA allies convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Given the position the TDP has, there is a talk that Naidu might be offered the NDA convenor post, as he has the capacity to bring all allies together,” the analyst said.
