Tripartite Alliance Forms in Andhra Pradesh, Seat Sharing Nears Finalization
Hyderabad: The tripartite alliance between the Telugu Desam, Jana Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh is inching towards fruition with broad consensus emerging on seat-sharing and the two minor partners agreeing to leave it to the big brother in the state to take a final call on the exact numbers.
Though AP BJP leaders pitched for 10 Lok Sabha and 20 Assembly seats, the party’s Central leadership informed TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu that it would not insist on the numbers and rather focus on seats where its winning chances would be high. The BJP Central leadership is expected to have a final round of talks with the state party leaders after Sunday’s national convention, and also discuss it at the party Parliamentary Board meet on Monday before making the formal announcement.
AP BJP spokesperson Dr Vinusha Reddy confirmed that the highest decision-making body of the party would take a call in a day or two; significantly, she did not rule out the alliance with the TD. She recalled that the TD could win twice in 1999 and 2014 because of the BJP vote.
Dr Vinusha Reddy also quoted some recent surveys to drive home her point that the TD this time too need BJP support to gain the edge. “The BJP is in full demand in AP and both the TD and the YSRC have been working hard to be in the good books of our party,” she said. Sources told Deccan Chronicle that the BJP would get the Araku reserved for Scheduled Tribes communities and the Tirupati seat set aside for the Scheduled Castes communities, besides Rajampet from where former chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to contest.
Though there is no clarity on the Lok Sabha seat from where she would contest, the Central leadership is keen on fielding AP state president D. Purandeswari. Four more BJP leaders – K. Raghurama Krishnam Raju (Narsapur) Y.S. Chowdary (Eluru/Vijayawada), Satya Kumar (Anantapur) and Swami Swaroopananda (Hindupur) – are said to be lobbying for the fifth seat for themselves.
Meanwhile, the TD cadre, in certain pockets, was worried over the possible dent the alliance with BJP could make to their winning chances. Some leaders even suspected foul play by the BJP to force an alliance with the TD to achieve the larger goal of helping YSRC president and AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy win his second term. “But, our leadership, willingly or unwillingly, wants to go ahead with the BJP which the former believes would help in curtaining the electoral malpractices of the ruling party,” a senior leaders pointed out.
