TDP to raise demands of Andhra Pradesh; rules out cracks in NDA

Briefing about the parliamentary party meeting held at Chandrababu Naidu’s residence here, the Minister of State for Science and Technology asserted that Telugu Desam Telugu Desam Party is quite disappointed with the union budget where the legitimate demands of Andhra Pradesh have not been addressed by central government. He further added that TDP lawmakers would also raise the matter in both houses.

When quizzed about the reported interaction between Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, the senior TDP leader refuted all such reports and termed it as insubstantial media rhetoric. Chowdary asserted that there has been no communication between Chandrababu Naidu and BJP’s apex leadership.

On Sunday, after the much hot pursuit between BJP and TDP over union budget, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Nara Chandrababu Naidu chaired a crucial review meeting with TDP lawmakers to discuss future of TDP-BJP alliance.

On Thursday, TDP had expressed displeasure over the union budget presented by Narendra Modi led government and openly criticized center for not addressing the long pending issue faced by Andhra Pradesh. Chowdary pointed that even after several interactions with central government, the budget does not have any solid provisions for important projects like Railway Zone, Polavaram project funding, Funding for new capital Amaravati.

TDP was expecting some announcements regarding special status and finance commission funds for maintaining state’s fiscal deficit. Meanwhile, several TDP MPs expressed displeasure over Union budget which has irked state BJP leaders. Yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the last full-fledged general budget 2018-19 before the general elections of 2019.