HYDERABAD, March 13: The political impasse at the Centre, following the differences between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally AIADMK, has come as a breather for the Telugu Desam, which has been asked by the United Front (UF) to reconsider its stand of maintaining `equi-distance' from both the Congress and the BJP.``Now, we are in no hurry to formalise our stand. We are keenly watching the developments in the BJP camp,'' TDP sources said.
The TDP, which holds the key to government formation at the Centre with 12 MPs, is under intense pressure from the party cadre not to support a Congress-led coalition, while a majority of leaders favoured `tactical and indirect' support to BJP in the interests of the state.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has become the cynosure of all the power-bidders at the Centre, has been holding a series of meetings with senior party colleagues during the last few days to elicit their opinion on TDP's role in national politics. ``The overwhelming mood is thatwe should adopt a wait and watch policy and be restrained in our public remarks since the situation at the Centre is still fluid,'' TDP sources said.
Reports of a deadlock in the talks between the BJP and the AIADMK were received with a sense of relief by TDP leaders, who said they were being subjected to `excessive attention' ever since the BJP started scouting for new post-poll allies to muster a workable majority. The TDP's predicament was further compounded by apprehensions, within the party, over the adverse fall-out of supporting BJP.
During the March 10 UF core committee meeting, Naidu had stuck to his stand of maintaining equi-distance despite evoking criticism that it would amount to indirect support to BJP. The `internal churning' in TDP has thrown up only two options before the party: either to extend conditional support to BJP or tactically abstain from voting in the Lower House. The party was unambiguous in its Opposition to a Congress-led regime even at the cost of pulling out from the UF onthe issue, TDP sources said. During the stock-taking exercise initiated by Naidu, there was consensus among party leaders that any attempt to prop up a Congress-led coalition would militate against TDP's ideology.
They had pointed out that the Congress was their main enemy in the state and anti-Congressism had been the electoral plank of TDP ever since its inception in 1982. With BJP being perceived only as a `distant rival' by TDP leadership, a majority of party leaders, particularly the newly-elected MPs, had reportedly favoured tactical support to BJP in the overall interest of the state. Some leaders had suggested an alternative scenario where the party could adopt a neutral stand and abstain from voting in the event of A B Vajpayee seeking the confidence vote in the Lok Sabha, TDP sources said.However, latest developments in the wake of friction between BJP and AIADMK have `taken the heat off the TDP', sources said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
