The State-level coordination committee of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) will be organised here on November 9, about two weeks after it first went into a huddle in Rajamahendravaram under the leadership of TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan on October 23.
Also, the coordination meeting follows the deliberations that TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu had with Mr. Pawan Kalyan at his residence in Hyderabad on November 4 on the preparation of a joint manifesto for the 2024 elections and the current political scenario, including the likely fallout of the criminal cases the TDP supremo is facing.
Mr. Naidu is on medical bail till November 28, when he has to surrender before the Superintendent of the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison as per the State High Court’s order.
To start with, the two parties had district-level coordination meetings from October 29 to 31, and reached a broad understanding on how to go about their campaign against the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
JSP Political Affairs Committee chairman Nadendla Manohar told The Hindu that the upcoming coordination meeting would focus on firming up the manifesto by discussing a whole range of issues, and it would be most probably released after Deepavali.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan had announced his decision on September 14 to forge an alliance with the TDP. The two parties have since been jointly participating in various programmes and exposing the State government’s “failures and corrupt activities.”
One thing that’s not yet clear is whether the BJP will join the TDP and JSP.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan is optimistic that the BJP will eventually come along with them to wage a collective battle so that the anti-YSRCP vote does not split to their detriment.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mr. Naidu’s cases are scheduled to reach a decisive stage in the Supreme Court in the second week of this month.
Especially, the skill development scam case is poised to go either way as the apex court reserved its verdict on October 17 while refusing to grant him interim bail.
