Hyderabad: Political issues concerning Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states are linked to the Gujarat Assembly polls in many ways.
The two key BJP leaders — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah — are deeply involved in the Gujarat poll campaign, keeping all other decisions pending. “Only if the BJP loses or gets a simple majority will it start to think about strengthening allies and start listening to us,” the senior TD functionary said.
Apart from the delimitation Bill, the AP government wants the Centre’s financial assistance urgently for several of its projects, including the prestigious Polavaram project and the construction of the new capital city.
“Without help from the Centre, we cannot run the show in AP; we need the PM’s wholehearted support,” said a senior minister in the AP Cabinet.
He pointed out that more than 18 months have passed since Mr Modi gave an appointment to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Besides, the TD is concerned about the talk of a possible tie-up between the YSRC and the BJP in Andhra Pradesh. Relations between the TD and BJP in the state are not as friendly as they were a few months ago.
“Whether we need to take an aggressive stand on some issues is dependent on the outcome of the Gujarat polls,” admitted the AP minister.
Though not an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, the TRS in TS wants the BJP to be strengthened in TS to counter its main rival, the Congress.
“We know the BJP is not growing in the state as was anticipated. We are concerned that the outcome of the Gujarat polls should not lead to the rise of the Congress. Our main political enemy is the Congress,” a senior TRS functionary opined.
While admitting that it’s not all rosy for the BJP as the Gujarat poll campaign progresses, a state spokesperson of the party said the rise of the BJP in Telangana state will get a boost once the party gets over 115 seats in Gujarat.
As far as the Congress is concerned, the rise of Mr Rahul Gandhi as AICC president and the improvement of the party’s prospects in Gujarat will strengthen it in TS.
