The stray hiccups notwithstanding, their relationship has lasted all these years. And as Andhra Pradesh heads for snap polls, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP are set to fight the elections hand-in-hand. ‘‘We are going to have an alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh. We are aligning with Chandrababu Naidu,’’ BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu said here today.‘‘We welcome his courageous decision to dissolve the Assembly and go in for an early election. Only a self-confident leadership and party can take such a step. I am sure Chandrababu will go down well with the people of Andhra Pradesh.’’ The BJP chief also lauded the chief minister’s twin mottos of ‘‘peace and progress’’, saying ‘‘I hope the people who believe in peace will accept the challenge thrown by Naxalites and give a clear mandate for development and peace’’. The BJP contested barely 24 of the 294 Assembly seats in 1999 and managed to win half the number. Venkaiah hoped the TDP would let the BJP register at least a modest increase in its share this time.The BJP has listed a total of 60 seats on which it can stake a claim. ‘‘We would shortlist 40 of them. Let us hope that our final share would range between the previous 24 and 40. The ideal figure would be 35,’’ a party member said.Apart from that, the honeymoon is very much on. The chief minister had secured the concurrence of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Venkaiah Naidu during their luncheon meeting at his residence on November 2 on the sidelines of a National Police Academy function at Hyderabad. Sources said the chief minister spoke to state BJP president Indrasena Reddy on Wednesday before deciding to dissolve the Assembly.Since the last Assembly polls had been held alongside the Lok Sabha elections, the two sides had resolved that given their priorities, the TDP would be liberal while conceding parliamentary seats to the BJP. The latter would reciprocate by not insisting upon contesting a larger number of seats. Consequently, the TDP gave up eight Lok Sabha seats, of which the BJP won seven.Naidu’s gamble of an early poll is rooted in the belief that he is riding a sympathy wave following the October 1 assassination attempt on him. In contrast, there is no indication of any popular current for the Vajpayee government.
