Crucial TDP meet underway to review alliance with BJP

Upset over the budget ignoring the needs of Andhra Pradesh, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is meeting in Amravatito review the party's alliance with the BJP at the centre.

TDP MP P Ravindra Babu said about the meeting, "Whatever CM (chief minister) decides we will stand by it, but we are not happy with the BJP budget, not happy with the budget allotted to Andhra Pradesh."

Asked about the alliance with BJP he said, "That we have to see, our CM will decide, we will follow him."

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Asked about the alliance with the BJP, another TDP leader said the budget would be discussed at the TDP parliamentary board meeting and that political alliance was different from state government development.

"We are discussing about budget, political alliance is different and state govt development is different, K Rammohan Rao said.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu had called for an "emergency party meeting" with the leaders on Sunday after criticising the budget which was presented on February 1 by finance minister Arun Jaitley.

The meeting was called in order to discuss the "future course of action after the budget allocation for Andhra Pradesh", the party said, adding that it would continue to "fight" for the state's due.

Senior leader and union minister YS Chowdhary had told the press that the party was unhappy over no monetary allocation for Andhra Pradesh on many issues such as Polavaram project, funding for the new state capital of Amravati, making Visakhapatnam a zonal railways headquarters and clearance for the Kadappa steel plant project.

On February 1, the union minister had warned that the TDP had three options before it, either try and continue the alliance, make their MPs resign and simply terminate the association with the BJP and the NDA.

Last week, Naidu had issued an ultimatum to the BJP chart its own course if the BJP did not wish to continue with the alliance. The TDP had branded the 2018 Budget proposals as "anti-people and corporate friendly", and a betrayal of the interests of Andhra Pradesh. It had said that its concerns were of a serious nature and need to be addressed effectively and promptly.

'We are disappointed with the Union Budget presented. Many pressing state issues like Railway Zone, Polavaram project funding, Funding for capital Amaravati and other pending issues of Andhra Pradesh are not addressed in the budget,'' YS Chowdary, MoS Science & Technology, TDP said on budget day.

Ties between the BJP and TDP have soured since Since Chandrababu Naidu took charge as chief minister four years ago.

The TDP is the BJP's biggest ally in Southern India.

(With inputs from ANI)