Amaravati (PTI) The TDP on Sunday said its alliance with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh and the Centre was very much alive, following speculation that the party was disgruntled over the ‘raw deal’ that the state got in the Union Budget.
TDP leader and Union minister Y Satyanarayana Chowdary briefed the media on Sunday about deliberations at a meeting convened by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the Union Budget.
“As and when it is required, the chief minister and party chief will take the decision appropriately. As of today it (the alliance) is just going on. We never said (about snapping ties)...it’s all speculation,” he said.
“Our state is in a disadvantageous position due to bifurcation (of united Andhra Pradesh). People are dissatisfied because there is no specific mention of state issues in the Union Budget. All this was discussed,” Chowdary said. The meeting was attended by party MPs, a few state ministers, senior TDP leaders and senior bureaucrats.
“We have already taken up the issues with the Union Finance Minister, Railway Minister (on setting up a railway zone in Visakhapatnam). Definitely, in the next 2-3 days we are hopeful everything will be resolved,” he added.
Chowdary said that the TDP would raise the state’s demands, if required, in Parliament. Some of the issues over which the TDP is miffed are the implementation of a special financial package for the state, setting up of a railway zone, deficit finance and schemes related to development of Amaravati as the state capital. Asked if BJP chief Amit Shah spoke with Naidu after reports of TDP’s resentment, Chowdary replied in the negative.
