TDP announces decision to pull out of BJP

Amravati, March 08: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday night announced its decision to pull out of the Narendra Modi government in protest against refusal of the Centre to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, saying the Centre has done injustice to the state.

TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced to the media that the two TDP ministers -- P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju (Civil Aviation) and Y.S. Chowdary (Minister of State for Science and Technology) -- will tender their resignations on Thursday morning.

The TDP is second-largest party after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In the Lok Sabha, the TDP has 16 members and in the Rajya Sabha six. It is the first pre-poll partner of the BJP to pull out of the Modi government after being part of it for nearly four years.

His announcement came hours after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi told the media that granting of special status to Andhra Pradesh was not possible after the 14th Finance Commission recommendations.