The TDP is returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nearly six years after walking out of the ruling coalition at the Centre with the grievance that the Narendra Modi Government did gross injustice to the bifurcation-hit Andhra Pradesh by not granting it the Special Category Status (SCS) and other demands.
Its re-entry into the NDA now paves the way for the BJP to join the TDP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance in the State, for which JSP chief Pawan Kalyan had been intensely lobbying, while N. Chandrababu Naidu took quite a long time to extend an olive branch to the BJP for his own reasons.
Nevertheless, as the discussions held by Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kalyan with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi over the last three days ended on a positive note on Saturday morning, the stage has been set for the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance to confront the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the general elections, the notification for which is expected to be issued in a matter of days.
An official spokesman of the TDP told The Hindu that the alliance was confirmed but clarity about the number and names of the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats, which the parties agreed to share, would emerge only in a day or two.
Meanwhile, Mr. Naidu told important leaders in a teleconference from the national capital that the BJP was roped into the alliance as the State required the Central government’s support to recover from the YSRCP’s destructive rule.
He maintained that it was only in the larger public interest that the three parties forged the alliance, and told the aspiring candidates not to be disheartened if they don’t get the tickets to contest.
“The parties have reached a broad understanding on the adjustment of seats, but it will be finalised after yet another round of deliberations,” Mr. Naidu said, suggesting that the basic objective of the alliance was to consolidate anti-YSRCP votes.
With the alliance falling in place, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address a public meeting in the State in the near future and give some assurances to the people in order to salvage the ground the BJP had lost in the 2019 elections, when it garnered less than 1% votes. It won four Assembly constituencies in 2014 in partnership with the TDP.
