AMARAVATI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the principal opposition party in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday lambasted a local English daily for publishing a report which falsely claimed that the party is merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after Nara Chandrababu Naidu allegedly finalised a deal. Varla Ramaiah, TDP national general secretary and politburo member alleged that the story headlined 'TDP merges with BJP, Naidu finalises deal' is a fake story. "The timing makes it abundantly clear that the author has allowed his personal interest to influence his professional duties in violation of IFWJ's call for code of conduct (2016)," said Ramaiah. (IANS)