TDP quits NDA; to move no-confidence motion

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today decided to quit the NDA, days after two of its ministers resigned from the Narendra Modi government following the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

The party will also move a no-confidence motion against the Modi government over the injustice meted out to the state, an official communique said.

Union ministers -- P Ashok Gajapati Raju and Y S Chowdary -- had quit on March 8 after a meeting with the prime minister.

The TDP politburo unanimously took the decision during a tele-conference with party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu this morning.

The Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party will issue a notice to move the no-trust motion today, it said.

The party politburo meeting to decide over quitting the NDA was planned for this evening, but the formality was completed during the daily tele-conference Chandrababu holds with party leaders in the morning.

The TDP will write a letter to BJP president Amit Shah and also other constituents of the NDA informing its decision and the reasons for it, the communique said.