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BJP resents TDP's big brother attitude

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

The Bharatiya Janata Party state leadership seems to resent the big brother attitude adopted by the ruling Telugu Desam Party over seat-sharing between the two parties for the municipal elections in Andhra Pradesh slated for March this year.

"We are requesting the TDP for at least one-third of the chairpersons' posts in the state. However, they are apparently unwilling to meet our demand. They are harping on our previous strength in 1995 as the criteria for seat-sharing. This is unacceptable to us," a top BJP leader told rediff.com on the condition of anonymity.

"We don't want to spoil the chances for an understanding with the TDP though we are prepared to go it alone in the civic polls if the situation demands," he added.

"Our strength has gone up from election to election. Though we polled over 18 per cent of the popular vote on our own in the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, we opted for seat-sharing with the TDP for the 1999 Lok Sabha and assembly polls to defeat the Congress, which is our common foe. We settled for eight Lok Sabha and 24 assembly seats in those polls just to make the alliance work," the BJP leader pointed out.

"Now, nobody can underestimate our strength. We have seven members in the Lok Sabha from the state, besides two Rajya Sabha members hailing from here. We have 12 members in the state assembly. We have four state leaders in the Union ministry. Our support base among the masses is growing day by day," he said.

The BJP recently undertook a membership enrolment drive for a month, which saw its membership swell from just 700,000 to a record 2.1 million.

"We could have enrolled 500,000 more members had we extended the enrolment deadline by a few days. In most of the municipal towns, we have 4,000 to 8,000 party members now. In each municipal ward, too, we have set up our party committees," the senior leader explained.

From the beginning, the BJP has been quite strong in the urban areas. In recent times, it has strengthened its base in the rural areas as well.

In 1995, the BJP, contesting on its own, bagged five municipalities. It subsequently gained control over three more municipalities with the help of independent councillors. The BJP has eight municipalities under its fold now. These are Tandur, Sangareddy, Nizamabad, Nalgonda, Nirmal, Suryapet, Koratla (all in Telangana region) and Tuni (in coastal Andhra).

Out of the 106 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in the state, elections are being held to 103 municipalities and five municipal corporations during March this year.

The BJP has demanded chairmen's posts in 45 municipalities besides the mayor's post in two municipal corporations (Visakhapatnam and Warangal). "We are ready to scale down our demand to 30 municipalities and two municipal corporations. We cannot settle for anything less," a former state functionary explained.

The BJP has offered different options to the TDP for seat-sharing. Besides putting forward its claims for one-third of the municipal chairpersons' posts, the BJP has demanded the vice-chairmen's posts in a specified number of municipalities.

"We are ready to share the vice-chairmen's posts with the TDP in municipalities where we are seeking the chairperson's post and vice-versa. We also want to share a specific number of ward councillors' posts in each municipality," another BJP functionary involved in the negotiations with the TDP pointed out.

The party is equally keen to have its presence in the civic bodies in all the three regions of the state.

The BJP is very strong in Telangana region -- its traditional bastion -- and it has grown rapidly in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region in the last couple of years.

In Anantapur district alone, the BJP has 140,000 party members. In Chittoor, the home district of Chief Minister and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the BJP has 80,000 party members now.

"Our demands are reasonable and genuine. We are asking for more because, right now, the Congress holds sway in over 55 municipalities among the 103 going to the polls. Why is the TDP reluctant to part with the municipalities which are not with it at present? This only indicates the big-brotherly attitude of its leaders. We are bargaining with the TDP. At the same time, we are prepared for triangular contests. We will definitely fare better by going it alone. We now have more than 30 per cent voter base. We want to have seat-sharing only because we want to ensure the rout of the Congress," a BJP leader hailing from Rayalaseema region said.

With dalits, tribals, minorities, backward classes, and more and more women and professionals such as advocates and doctors joining the party, the mood is quite upbeat in the BJP these days.

"We are in power at the Centre in the same way as Chandrababu Naidu is in power here. We can have a durable relationship only on an equal footing," the senior functionary asserted.

He was, however, hopeful that the issue of seat-sharing between the BJP and TDP for the civic bodies would be sorted out in the next few days.

"There is still time for the issue of the notifications for the civic polls. Where is the hurry?" he quipped.

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