NEW DELHI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A key regional party Friday pulled out of India's ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that it took the decision to exit the ruling National Democratic Alliance over Prime Minister Modi government's refusal to grant special status to the southern Indian state.
In a statement, the TDP said that its 16 lawmakers would no longer back the National Democratic Alliance in the Indian Parliament and that it would even move a "no-confidence motion" against the central government over "the injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh."
Last week, the TDP pulled out two of its representatives from Prime Minister Modi's government over the same issue.
Naidu has been furious over the Indian government's refusal to grant the state "special status" as promised after Telangana was carved out of it in 2014, given Andhra Pradesh is to go to polls next year and opposition parties are upping the ante against the "deprivation."
However, there is no imminent threat to the Indian government a year ahead of the general elections as the BJP itself has the majority in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha).
BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narsimha Rao said the TDP's decision to quit the ruling alliance was inevitable after its "mischievous propaganda" against the central government. "Far from being a threat, TDP's exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in AP," he tweeted.