The Hindu : National : Naidu changing strategy?

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Saturday, Nov 20, 2004

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National

Naidu changing strategy?

By K. Venkateshwarlu

HYDERABAD, NOV. 19. The former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, is planning to recast his political strategy, with indications that his Telugu Desam Party may be moving away from the BJP.

"If the BJP wants to return to its Hindutva brand of politics, we have to go our way," Mr. Naidu is believed to have told partymen at a closed-door meeting on Thursday.

"After all, ours is a secular party and we need not compromise on it. We were not part of the NDA Government and consciously extended support from outside. We have protested against communal riots in Gujarat", he told The Hindu.

It is not the first time that Mr. Naidu has spoken against the BJP agenda. Since the debacle in the Assembly polls, he has been under pressure from party cadres to snap ties with the BJP. Many feel that the party lost the Muslim votes because of the alliance. "Politics is a dynamic situation and we need to act accordingly. We forged alliance with the BJP in a particular political situation that unfolded at that time," he said. He refused to elaborate.

Meeting with Somnath

In his meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, at his residence on Thursday, Mr. Naidu is said to have expressed displeasure at the BJP's decision to boycott Parliament in the last session. If the BJP comes up with a similar proposal again, the TDP would not support it "as Parliament is meant for discussing people's problems," he reportedly told Mr. Chatterjee.

The meeting of the "old friends" has sparked speculation of a political realignment. "What is wrong in working with the Left parties? We have worked together in the past," he told presspersons.

Going by his stand vis-à-vis the BJP and the Left parties, Mr. Naidu clearly wants to keep his options open. On record, however, he brushes aside all talk of reviving the third front or realignment of political forces. "Why should we think on those lines when there are no elections in sight," he asked.

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