TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu outside Parliament in New Delhi. The TDP on Friday withdrew support from the NDA government (Express Photo/Prem Nath Pandey/File) TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu outside Parliament in New Delhi. The TDP on Friday withdrew support from the NDA government (Express Photo/Prem Nath Pandey/File)

Making good on its threat, N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday withdrew support from the NDA government over the Centre’s refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh. Naidu took the decision in an emergency teleconference with party politburo members and MPs this morning. The Indian Express had on Thursday first reported the TDP’s decision to walk out of the coalition.

The move follows the resignation of two of the TDP’s ministers — P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary — from the Union Cabinet on March 8. At the time, the TDP had not revealed its mind on quitting the coalition altogether. The two union ministers had stepped down after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Express Explained | Why Andhra Pradesh, Centre can’t agree on special category status

Telugu Desam Party has decided to officially exit the National Democratic Alliance due to failure in fulfilling the promises made in the State Reorganisation Act.

This decision was taken unanimously, in a teleconference with Politburo members, today. — N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 16, 2018

Hours after the development in Amravati, TDP leader Thota Narasimham moved a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha today. The no-confidence motion is against injustice meted out to the state, an official communique from the party said.

Andhra Pradesh’s ruling party had offered to back the YSR Congress’ no-confidence motion, which the latter had moved on Thursday, but said it has now decided to withdraw the support as it smells a nexus between it and the BJP.

The Congress will support the TDP’s as well as YSR Congress Party’s no-confidence motion against the Centre, news agency ANI quoted Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy as saying. The motion can be accepted only if the party has the support of at least 50 members in the House.

As things move, the TDP will now write a letter to BJP president Amit Shah and also other constituents of the NDA informing them of its decision and the reasons for it. TDP has 16 members in the Lok Sabha. Its pullout, however, does not threaten the coalition.

In a teleconference with his MPs on Thursday, Naidu is learnt to have accused the BJP of resorting to “collusion politics”. According to sources, he also said there was a strong anti-BJP mood in the country, as reflected in the bypoll results on Wednesday.

Naidu also allegedly accused the BJP of using Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP and actor K Pavan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party to target the TDP. He said the BJP was applying the same strategy it used in Tamil Nadu, where it supported the OPS faction against EPS in the AIADMK.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said the TDP’s decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against the Centre. “People of Andhra Pradesh have now realised that the TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inept & inert governance.Far from being a threat, TDP’s exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in AP,” Rao tweeted.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the decision, “I welcome the TDP’s decision to leave the NDA. The current situation warrants such action to save the country from disaster,” she tweeted.

“I appeal to all political parties in the Opposition to work closely together against atrocities, economic calamity and political instability,” she added.

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