Hyderabad, Oct 11: In the midst of talk about early assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, the state BJP, an ally of ruling TDP, today said attack on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu would "certainly be an election issue" and it should be seen as an affront to democracy. "Though there is no concrete signal from TDP about advancing polls, we do not rule out such a possibility," party spokesman Prof S V Seshagiri Rao and General Secretary K Lakshman told reporters here. Pointing out that the party was gearing up for polls, they said there was a "groundswell" of sympathy for Naidu, who had survived an assassination attempt by extremists on Oct 1. However, the leaders rejected the argument that tdp-bjp combine aimed to capitalise the perceived sympathy for Naidu.
"Since naxalites do not believe in democracy and the power of ballot, elections will provide an opportunity for people to reaffirm their faith in democracy and thereby reject the extremist philosophy," they said. The BJP leaders' views come in the wake of media reports that TDP leadership was mulling over the option of early polls keeping in view the sympathy in the minds of the people for Naidu.
The assembly elections are due in September next year.
Bureau Report