YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh, Garikapati Mohan Rao and TG Venkatesh, four out of six Rajya Sabha TDP MPs met chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and handed him a letter of a resolution passed by the legislature party urging its merger.
Amaravati: A day after four Rajya Sabha Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs merged with the BJP, CM Ramesh and YS Chowdary, two of the four TDP Rajya Sabha members have been under the scanner of the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate.
Speaking to MyNation, Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao said, "The democracy is not under threat. The MPs jumping ship has more to do with the TDP and Chandrababu Naidu than with the BJP because the party does not need any more numbers to 'Poach' any leaders. We (BJP) are not seeing the evaporation of the opposition, but we see the dispersion of the opposition party."
Sagar Rao further said that the BJP is witnessing a reverse trend with the national party being strengthened, and regional parties are dwindling because they realise that people need stability, economic growth and significant development. He also said that all this could be provided only by the BJP.
Reacting to the BJP spokesperson's claims, TDP treasurer Prem Kumar Jain said, "Everybody wants only power and benefits. BJP plans to hold a strong position in the entire nation. They do not wish to have any opposition party. In every state, they behave the same way. It is not about the BJP providing strength, they want to wash out the opposition party thoroughly. They have the power and money. And Chandrababu Naidu is presently not in India. We (TDP) did a teleconference with him after we heard the news. He promised us that he would hold a party meeting and then take a decision."
"The four TDP MPs have merged with the BJP. They have not resigned from the TDP. We have only six MPs in the Rajya Sabha, so, they cannot resign from the party," Prem Kumar added.
Earlier, TDP president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had claimed that their party fought with the BJP only for the Special Category Status (SCS) to the state while condemning the BJP's act to weaken the TDP.
However, will Chandrababu Naidu get buried under the pressure of defeat in the recent election or rise like a phoenix and make his presence felt again? The TDP chief’s answer is expected after he returns to India from a Europe trip.
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