Amit Shah with one letter bid goodbye to any hopes of reconciliation with the TDP. Calling TDP’s politically motivated, for all intents and purposes widened the gap of misunderstanding between TDP and BJP.
Amit Shah went so far to say that TDP wasn’t doing this out of concern for Andhra Pradesh. Shah wrote a nine-page long letter to Naidu accusing TDP of not thinking in the best interests of the state. The BJP leader insisted that the centre has fulfilled its statuary obligations to the state and has also ensured its financial well-being beyond the AP Reorganisation Act.
He said in the letter that Naidu knows but doesn’t want to admit that BJP has done its bit and is a ‘friend and well-wisher of the people of Andhra Pradesh’. Naidu called the letter a ‘bundle of lies’ The chances of a pre-poll alliance between the two parties at this point in time looks very bleak. Naidu read pieces of the letter out and countered the points befittingly. He pointed out all that the centre had failed to deliver on where Shah has pointed out as done.
Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh had previously indicated that Amit Shah had no knowledge of the state’s issues. BJP was writing the letter without really addressing or understanding the issues the state was facing. Amit Shah also said on the matter of the special category status that people are, “whipping up sentiments instead of engaging in informed debate.” Naidu in response said that what Shah wrote lacked dignity. Naidu found support for his comeback in Mamata Banerjee’s tweets. Whether anything comes of this exchange between the parties is uncertain. Either BJP is not threatened by TDP walking out or the party sincerely doesn’t understand what TDP is saying. But what this demand will do is make other states question their status as well.