The BJP on Saturday lashed out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, days after he shared a stage and shook hands with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru.
Speaking to reporters, BJP national secretary V Ram Madhav accused Naidu of going back on the ideology of former Andhra CM and TDP founder NT Rama Rao, who wanted to unite all non-Congress parties to forge an alliance.
The BJP leader was speaking at an event in Guntur, where Kanna Lakshminarayana took charge as the chief of the party's Andhra unit.
"Naidu is trying to sail with a party known for corruption and family rule. Congress is his home and he is practising the principles of the party, be it corruption, family rule, caste politics or non-accountability. Like our slogan Congress Mukth Bharat, NTR too established the TDP with a similar slogan. He wanted a non-Congress platform to usher in a new political culture. Naidu, however, is going against this very spirit," the BJP leader was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu said their participation in the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy was meant to strengthen the coming together of regional parties and they would not allow obstacles in this effort.
Naidu said this was a very good occasion and also a very important event as Kumaraswamy was taking oath. "We want to express our solidarity. TDP is ready to go to the oath ceremony with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Asked about any front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party, Naidu said: "What we are doing is we are watching. We all want to promote more and more regional parties that is our and Mamata ji's mission."
TDP pulled out of the NDA in March citing 'injustice' to Andhra Pradesh over the Centre's failure to fulfill promises made during the state's bifurcation. Since then, the state has witnessed protests by several groups over Special Category Status. TDP MPs even moved a no-confidence motion in Parliament.
IANS inputs