Is TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu trying to mend fences with NDA and, for that matter, the BJP? This is the question dominating the political circles in Andhra Pradesh, with Naidu repeatedly targeting Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy over incidents of vandalisation of places belonging to Hindu religion.
Over the past few months, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has been massively critical of the Jagan government for “not being able to protect the religious places of Hindus”. He never missed a chance to underline the fact that ever since Jagan Reddy took over as CM, incidents of Hindu religious places being targeted have gone up.
Political observers also see the similar remarks by Naidu attacking the Jagan government as the TDP chief seeking to befriend BJP. According to them, after tasting defeat in assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu may be cozying up to the saffron party with an objective of facing the ruling YSRCP in the state.
Though Naidu’s party TDP has aligned with the BJP in the past, it wanted to prove itself as a secular party for the minority vote bank in the state. But this time, Chandrababu’s strategy looks different.
In what buttresses this impression, Naidu said Jagan is a Christian and he does not have any respect for the Hindu sentiments. He also asked his cadre to fight against the ruling YSRCP on the temple issue.
“If the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government was so concerned about religious harmony and not hurting the sentiments of people following any religion, why has he not acted when a series of attacks happened on temples?” asked Naidu. The YSRCP also returned fire at Naidu in a bid to counter his Hindu line. Andhra Minister Kodali Nani said, “How can Chandrababu Naidu claim himself to be a true Hindu? He climbed the Tirumala hills wearing shoes, whereas Jagan climbed the seven hills with bare feet. Who is the real Hindu? Before the 2019 general elections, TDP wanted to distance itself from BJP and described itself as a secular party but now it is going in the BJP route.”