When Amit Shah recently came to Andhra Pradesh and accused the YSRCP government of corruption, it created quite a sensation.
The impression all along had been that the BJP was favorably disposed towards the YSRCP and could count on the latter for support in Parliament.
The YSRCP was also seeking to be in the good books of the BJP (Detractors say this is because of the ‘quid pro quo’ cases pending against YS Jagan). So, did Amit Shah’s statement and the subsequent rebuttals by YSRCP mean that the bonhomie between them was over?
In Telangana, judging by the public mood, everyone expects the next Assembly elections to be a tussle between BRS and BJP.
Barely a day goes by without some sort of acrimony being displayed by both sides.
T-BJP Chief Bandi Sanjay has repeatedly said that the BJP will send KCR to prison soon, and the latter and his son have time and again hit out repeatedly at Narendra Modi.
However, the BJP might not do anything to disturb either YS Jagan or KCR in a serious manner.
The BJP looks upon the Congress as its primary rival and is keen on achieving its goal of ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’. It would probably rely on KCR to do this job in Telangana while strengthening itself at the same time.
In Andhra Pradesh, despite Chandrababu Naidu’s best efforts, the BJP is not keen on an alliance and realizes that it is the TDP that is a major obstacle for the saffron party to become a major force as it is the oldest party in the State now with both the required cadre and financial power.
The TDP has been decimated in Telangana, and now the BJP would ideally want YS Jagan to do the same in Andhra. Narendra Modi will never forget Chandrababu Naidu’s threat post-Godhra to arrest him if he landed in Hyderabad.
Even if it is unintentional, both Jagan and KCR are doing work that will eventually work out to the advantage of the BJP. And until that work is completely done, they will, in all likelihood, not face any major trouble from the Centre.
In that sense, objectively speaking, they are B-teams of the BJP, and any allegations and counter-allegations are all part of the game.
