New Delhi, March 4
Even as the BJP is firm that the speakership of the Lok Sabha will remain with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the issue is mired in controversy because of the mayhem in Gujarat and the VHP’s threat to go ahead with the temple construction in Ayodhya. In Andhra Pradesh, the TDP has maintained all along that its main enemies are the Congress and the BJP. The TDP has strong reservations about the inept manner in which the explosive situation in Gujarat was handled initially.
Then, the regional party which is supporting the BJP-led NDA government from outside is having doubts whether the BJP is quietly giving a push to the controversial mandir issue, contrary to the NDA’s National Agenda for Governance.
The Politburo of the TDP has taken exception to the tardy manner of containing the communal flare-up in Gujarat. It is also against any devious attempts being made to disturb the status quo in the pilgrim centre of Ayodhya.
Certain allies of the NDA have resented attempts being made to vitiate the atmosphere in Ayodhya. DMK supremo M Karunanidhi has declared that his party will part ways with the NDA if the VHP and other front organisations of the BJP go ahead with their plans in Ayodhya from March 15.
The BJP is undoubtedly caught in a cleft situation as Mr Chandrababu Naidu in his capacity as the TDP chief will have to make up his mind in the light of the developing situation whether he would like to continue his association with the Vajpayee government.
While extending support to the BJP-led NDA government from outside, the TDP had sought the office of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to avoid any instability in its own ranks. In any case, it is for Mr Naidu to decide the matter.
The general expectation is that the speakership of the Lok Sabha will remain with the TDP as it has a solid block of 28 MPs. The sudden death of Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi in a helicopter crash yesterday, has raised the hopes in the TDP camp. The two MPs in the running appear to be Mr K. Yerran Naidu, an OBC who is at present the leader of the TDP Parliamentary Party and Dr Manda Jagannath, a Dalit. Dr Jagannath is an ENT specialist.
Nevertheless, everything depends on the benevolence of Mr Naidu, who runs the regional party with an iron fist. The choice of G.M.C. Balayogi, a Dalit who died in a helicopter crash yesterday, as the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha had taken everyone by surprise in the TDP.
TDP circles here are tightlipped, that it is for Mr Naidu to decide. The thinking in the BJP camp is that Mr Yerran Naidu’s elevation as Speaker might be advisable because of his experience as the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament will be extremely stormy because of Gujarat, the Ayodhya issue, tehelka.com expose and the reinduction of Mr George Fernandes in the Union Cabinet, among other issues.
