BSP, TDP may join forces in Andhra too

With the TDP and BSP seeking mutual support for opposing the nuclear deal, TDP leaders are looking at a possible alliance between the two parties in the state too.

With the TDP and BSP seeking mutual support for opposing the nuclear deal, TDP leaders are looking at a possible alliance between the two parties in the state too.

“At present, the parleys between the TDP and BSP are for opposing the nuclear deal. Within this ambit an alliance is possible but that is only after the vote of confidence. If you look at the Dalit vote in Andhra, it is in favour of the Congress. If we have a party like the BSP with us, it would result in a big minus for the Congress. The BSP would make gains and we would also benefit from it. Both parties would get something extra… without any side-effects,” TDP Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu said on Monday.

TDP’s organising secretary Ram Mohan Rao also said there was a possibility of an alliance after the nuclear deal issue was dealt with.

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“As far as the nuclear deal is concerned, we are talking to BSP. We are both opposed to the deal, and that makes us friends. Since Sunday there have been parleys between Mayawati and Chandrababu Naidu to forge an alliance to strengthen the UNPA,” he added.

The TDP, hit by desertions and resignations of senior leaders, and rattled by the impending launch of filmstar Chiranjeevi’s party, is considering that a tie-up with the BSP may contain some damage. The TDP may go for a tie-up with an eye on the 22 per cent SC votes. The BSP which contested the 2004 elections for the first time won one seat — Lake Raja Rao from Paderu (ST) in Vizag district. Chiranjeevi’s party which is expected to be launched next month is widely considered to be a party meant for the backward classes who want an alternative to the Congress and TDP. In the 2004 elections, while 71 per cent SCs voted for the Congress, only 17.4 per cent voted for the TDP. While 52 per cent OBCs voted for the Congress, only 37 per cent voted for the TDP.

Interestingly, since 2004, the TDP and BSP have always taken contradictory stands over issues, the prominent being Telangana. At a rally in Hyderabad last year, Mayawati had said her party would create a separate Telangana if it was voted to power at the Centre. As for the TDP, it has always maintained that it is not in favour of a separate state and has, in fact, made a “Unified Andhra” its poll plank due to which pro-Telangana leaders like T Devender Goud quit the party.

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