Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP)’s phenomenal performance in Andhra Pradesh won 16 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats contested by the party, the BJP did not get a single majority at the centre, and the Telugu Desam Party emerged as the second largest component of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. have created a strong bargaining position for the party.
A day after Chandrababu Naidu led to a landslide victory, Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday dismissed rumors that India might switch to the alliance and confirmed that he is still part of the NDA. “I am going to New Delhi to attend the NDA meeting. I will let you know if there are any other developments,” Chandrababu Naidu said in his first comments after the Lok Sabha results.
#WATCH | TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu arrives in Delhi for the NDA meeting. pic.twitter.com/8kVrnku2fQ
— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2024
Sources say that Chandrababu Naidu is going to make a demand for special status again in the matter of Chandrababu Naidu’s exit from the National Democratic Alliance in 2018, demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. Special status will ensure more central funding to the state, more subsidies to the state government and industrial incentives like income tax exemption, customs duty exemption, GST concessions.
Chandrababu Naidu may seek additional funds from the Center to restart the project of making Amaravati as the state capital, a project abandoned after Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress (YSRCP) came to power in 2019. Many buildings and flats built during the Naidu regime from 2014 to 2019 are today vacant and decaying.
Chandrababu Naidu, who will take over as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 9, wants to initiate the development of the capital city. Thatikkonda MLA Denali Sravan Kumar has said that Chandrababu Naidu will publish the vision document for Amaravati within 100 days of coming to power.
Another demand Chandrababu Naidu could make is funds to complete the long-pending Polavaram project, a promise made by Chandrababu Naidu during the pre-election campaign, TDP leaders said.
Telugu Desam Party insiders say Chandrababu Naidu will seek several key portfolios in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet and will also seek the Speaker’s post. Chandrababu Naidu has also sought to elevate his son, Telugu Desam Party General Secretary Nara Lokesh, to the national stage after his first victory in the Mangalagiri constituency.
Chandrababu Naidu, who said the Jagan Mohan government was involved in large-scale corruption in Andhra Pradesh, is also likely to urge the NDA to allow central agencies to investigate “scams” and Jagan.
