NEW DELHI, JAN 27: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) appears to have made up its mind to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party but does not know exactly when to strike. Confusion and the lack of clarity have characterised its statements, each at variance with the other in tone and tenor, on the recent killing of the Australian missionary in Orissa.The first reaction to the killing from its spokesperson was hard-hitting, stopping just short of an expression of withdrawal of support to the Vajpayee Government. As if to suggest a rethink, the TDP's second-rung leaders toned down the aggression, settling for a much milder rebuke for the BJP. But by the same evening, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, afraid of earning flak for inconsistency, reverted to the original strong line.The flip-flops indicate that the party is grappling with a dilemma, ahead of Assembly elections less than a year away. By terminating its relationship with the BJP, it hopes to win back support of theminorities. But just now it seems unsure; the fear of the Congress, its arch-rival in the State, forming a government at the Centre still haunts it.Says State Home Minister A Madhava Reddy, ``We supported the BJP because the Congress was a bigger evil. We also know that if the BJP Government is brought down the Congress may come back.'' He was one of the party leaders who sought to lend a touch of sobriety to the TDP's anti-BJP tirade.Although its problem of having to contend with either a BJP or a Congress government at the Centre would remain in the absence of a third alternative, the TDP, whose 11 Lok Sabha members are crucial to the survival of the Vajpayee Government, has consciously been distancing itself from the BJP. This explains why Naidu displayed such belligerence when he rang up Prime Minister A B Vajpayee last week to express anger at the ineffective way in which the Centre was handling the Shiv Sena's antics. Sometime earlier, he had voiced his disappointment with the Centre's responsesto his government's development projects and proposals.The party's marriage of convenience with the BJP is not the only problem. Countering the resurgence of the Congress, flush from its success in the recent Assembly elections in three major States, is a bigger challenge. And its latest headache is the rebellion from N T Rama Rao's son N Harikrishna who has launched his own party, `Anna (brother in Telugu as NTR was popularly referred to) Telugu Desam.'
