ELECTION ROUNDUP A grand alliance is on the cards in Andhra Pradesh with two regional parties hitching on to the BJP-TDP combine for the ensuing polls.
With the BJP and TDP bargaining hard on seatsharing, Prakash Javadekar, national spokesman of the saffron party, is rushing to Hyderabad on a mission to clinch the deal. “We are considering all possible options, including the pros and cons of the alliance. We will decide on the issue in Hyderabad when we consult our state leaders,” Javadekar said from New Delhi.
What seems to be worrying the BJP is a hint of opposition from a section of the TDP legislators and Telangana BJP leaders, who want their parties to fight elections independently. But with majority of leaders from both sides in favour of forging an alliance, sources said it was a “done deal” between the two old allies that broke ties in 2004.
With two more parties, Lok Satta and Jana Sena, joining the BJP-TDP combine, the grand alliance is slowly taking shape, said analysts.
Actor Pawan Kalyan, who has just launched his party Jana Sena, met the BJP national leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday and is likely to be the star campaigner for the alliance. Pawan Kalyan, the younger brother of Union minister Chiranjeevi, is expected to poach on Kapu votes.
Interestingly, the Lok Satta Party led by Kukatapally MLA Jayaprakash Narayan has also shown interest to enter the alliance. He wants to enter Lok Sabha from the Malkajgiri seat and expects to get traction if he joins hand with Modi.
Confirming the news, Lok Satta Party national general secretary Surendra Srivastava said his party was open to the idea of the grand alliance in the interest of the development agenda being professed by the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Speaking to the media, Javadekar hailed Pawan Kalyan’s slogan, ‘Congress hatao, desh bachao’. “Pawan Kalyan’s anti-Congress stand is good sign for the state politics in AP,” he said.
Javadekar, according to sources, has to iron out differences that cropped up in the Telangana unit of BJP since local leaders are still wary of going with the TDP which has earned an anti-Telangana image in the region.
“What we have made it clear with our central leaders is that the BJP is capable of winning the elections on its own. However, if the party leadership decides in favour of the alliance then we will abide by it’s decision,” said G Kishan Reddy, state BJP president, who now heads the Telangana unit of the party.
As the BJP is looking at independent strategies for the Telangana and Seemandhra, the seat-sharing formula is expected to be worked our separately for the two regions. T BJP leaders set sights high.
The Telangana leaders of the party are insisting on their contesting 14 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the region.
As they also bargain for 75 of the 119 Assembly seats, they want a BJP candidate to be chief minister in Telangana, in case the alliance emerges victorious.
“Thursday’s meeting is important in the view of finalising the BJP strategy for Andhra Pradesh. As it is hoped that it would be an amicable solution, we will announce the candidate list without any delay,” said BJP spokesperson N Ramachandra Rao.
However, in Seemandhra the issue is not so complicated with leaders of both BJP and TDP readily willing to address each other’s concerns.
According to the deal being worked out, over 18 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra will go to TDP.
For the assembly polls, TDP will bag the lion’s share of 150 out of 175 seats. “It is all about give and take. I hope we will arrive at an understanding and the alliance would be the most powerful to take on the corrupt forces in the Seemandhra region,” said Som Veer Raju, a Seemandhra leader and member of the BJP national executive committee.
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