The BJP, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and the Pawan Kalyan led Jana Sena Party (JSP) through a joint statement officially announced that they would be fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha and the concurrently held Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh.
The joint statement initiated by the BJP president J P Nadda but also issued on behalf of TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu and Mr Kalyan came after three days of talks between the three parties in New Delhi to tie up loose ends, and speaks of the alliance fighting “under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi”, but remains silent on the nuts and bolts of seat adjustment.
Sources however have confirmed to The Hindu, that out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, BJP will be fighting six, while the JSP which was earlier to fight three, will now fight on two seats, leaving 17 seats for the TDP. Out of the 175, BJP and JSP together will fight 30 seats. A joint rally of the alliance is scheduled for around March 17th in Guntur, said sources. “Specific seats are still being decided, and the sticking points remain Vishakhapatnam and Vijyavada, seats claimed by the BJP, but difficult for TDP to part with for personal and political reasons,” said a source in the TDP.
The joint statement issued by the three parties said that the TDP and the BJP have a “very old relationship together. TDP joined NDA in 1996 and has worked together successfully in Atalji’s (former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee), and Narendra Modi ji’s government.” It goes on to acknowledge the JSP’s support to the NDA since 2014 as well.
Just before the statement came out, Mr Naidu, while interacting with media persons said that “Andhra Pradesh has been destroyed badly. The BJP and the TDP coming together is a win-win situation for the country and the state.”
He lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while lashing out at Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy, stating that while “several good things are happening in the country under his (Prime Minister Modi’s) government, Andhra Pradesh has been going backward.”
“While wealth creation is a top priority for Modi, wealth destruction is the top priority for the YSR Congress,” Mr Naidu said. He also played down his past differences with the BJP and the fact that this is the third time he is joining the NDA, after having withdrawn support to the Modi government just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, instead he said having the same alliance in power at the Centre and in Andhra Pradesh would be to the state’s advantage.
BJP president J P Nadda posted his reactions to the alliance on “X”, (formerly Twitter): “I wholeheartedly support the decision of Shri @ncbn (Chandrababu Naidu) and Shri @PawanKalyan to join the NDA family. Under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi ji, BJP, TDP, and JSP are committed to the progress of the country and the upliftment of the state and people of Andhra Pradesh.”
This expansion of the NDA, said BJP sources, was important for the party’s goal to reach 50% vote share in the next Lok Sabha polls, a logic given for pursuing an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha as well. Sources said that there might be a get together of this new expanded NDA with new entrants in tow sometime in the next two weeks.
