The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Friday opposed the idea of taking the assembly and assembly elections together. The party said that this step is for weakening the regional parties. Describing this move as a game plan for national parties to end regional parties, TDP claimed that it opposes holding elections together to save the federal structure. 

TDP member and Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramkrishnadu said in a statement, "BJP has become a political shark. It wants to stay alive by eating small fish." When TDP and BJP were together, they first supported by the idea of holding elections together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But in March this year, the TDP had left the BJP with the issue of granting special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Ramkrishnudu said that the people of the country are watching the BJP that he is dealing with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, Mamta Banerjee in West Bengal, Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, Nitish Kumar in Bihar and TDP in Andhra Pradesh. He said, "There is no party at the Center in this situation that it can become a government on their own and they need the support of regional parties. But the move to hold elections simultaneously will only weaken the regional leaders."

Senior TDP leader said that the regional party was not supporting this idea to save democracy and the federal structure. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had said on February 1, 2017, that elections from Panchayat to Parliament should be held simultaneously. He said, "Then we can focus on development for five years without worrying about elections."

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