Who said BJP is weak in AP!

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to win at least one MLA seat in Andhra Pradesh in the 2019 election, but can strangely claim that the state is the party’s forte. With both the ruling and main opposition parties supporting the BJP candidate, Draupadi Murmu, an Adivasi woman, in the presidential election, there is no one to resist the national party in Andhra Pradesh. It should be noted that the Jana Sena is already in alliance with the BJP.

Although Andhra Pradesh’s electorate would not prefer to vote for the BJP, political parties in the state are subservient to the national party that is in power in the Centre, political analysts noted. The YCP has been very obedient to the BJP by remaining silent on many issues like Special Category Status (SCS), and the Polavaram project even when it was detrimental to the interests of the state, said.

The YCP government also went ahead with installing gauges on agricultural pumps, even as the TRS government in neighboring Telangana objected to the scheme saying it would be an injustice to the farming community. AP farmers also opposed it, but the government continued with the scheme after declaring that the pilot project was useful for the agricultural sector, political analysts recalled.

Since the YCP was elected to power, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy uttered a word against the BJP’s policies or decisions, given the many ED and CBI cases filed against them. Also, the BJP-led NDA is rumored to have helped the YCP win the election, they recalled.

The TDP opposition also remained a silent bystander when it came to objecting to the BJP farm laws or fighting for Special Status or the completion of the Polavaram project due to their weak voice in Parliament and the existential crisis facing the party in the condition. In such a situation, TDP overlord and former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu have been looking to the Center for help in checking the YCP’s machinations to push his party into oblivion. Naidu has remained Jagan’s bete noire ever since he was put behind bars for his involvement in serious crimes, including money laundering and disproportionate asset accumulation.

In the case of the presidential elections, the TDP had declared its support for Murmu, as she would be the first tribal woman to be president of the nation. The TDP withdrew from the NDA in 2017 and objected to the Centre’s delay in granting special status to the state.

Jana Sena, the only other political team that has a presence in the state, claims to be fighting for the cause of the people, but never opposed the BJP because they had forged an alliance. The party chairman and actor-turned-politician have always played second fiddle to the BJP, political analysts said. It also goes soft on the TDP and criticizes only the YCP, they noted.

Given these circumstances, the BJP is the strongest party in the state even though it does not have a single MLA electorate in its kitty.