When he was in power in Andhra Pradesh till recently, Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had received brickbats for his frequent U-turns on several issues, particularly, the special category status issue.
For his frequent change in stands, he had earned the nickname as U-turn Babu, which even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeated several times during his public meetings.
But Naidu seems to be taking U-turns even after his party’s defeat in the assembly elections with a huge margin.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, Naidu hoped to play a kingmaker role at the Centre by stitching together a coalition of anti-BJP parties including the Congress party with a view to bring down the Narendra Modi government.
He made frequent visits to New Delhi and met Congress president Rahul Gandhi several times. More than any other opposition leader, it was Naidu who had been in the forefront in making friendship with the Congress.
But all his plans went topsy-turvy after the elections with the BJP returning to power with a huge mandate and the Congress reducing to a small group.
Having realized that there is nothing for the TDP to do at the national level, Naidu has taken yet another U-turn now.
According to TDP sources, Naidu is learnt to have told his party MPs to adopt a neutral stand in parliament, rather than being an ally of the Congress party.
“Let us maintain equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP and confine ourselves to raising the voice on state issues. We don’t have to take any stand towards the Congress or the BJP,” he told the MPs at the parliamentary party meeting.
If at all a situation arises when the TDP is forced to spell out its stand on any contentious issue, Naidu suggested that the party would take a decision depending on the merit of the issue.
