TDP, BJP announce tie-up ‘under Modi leadership’; seat wrinkles ironed out

Sources said that the TDP has agreed to raise its offer to 8 Lok Sabha seats for the BJP, but on the condition that the national party share seats from its kitty with the third partner, JSP.

.@JaiTDP , @JanaSenaParty and @BJP4India are joining forces to bring Andhra Pradesh back on growth track. This is a significant moment for our state, which has suffered and lived through its darkest phase in history over the last five years. History will record this alliance as… pic.twitter.com/HsaXdAQxUg

— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) March 9, 2024

For the Assembly polls, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly offered 30 Assembly seats in all, to the two partners.

Sources said that the BJP is expected to fight the Anakapalli, Araku, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Hindupur, Rajampet Lok Sabha seats, giving Machilipatnam and Kakinada to the JSP.

In their joint statement, the three parties praised Modi for “working tirelessly for the development and progress of the nation for the last 10 years”. Recalling the TDP and BJP’s “old relationship”, from 1996 to 2018, the parties said their decision to ally again would help meet the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh.

The statement also noted that in 2014, when the TDP and BJP fought the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections together, the JSP had offered them its support.

Talks have been going on between leaders of the three parties for several days. At the discussions held on Friday, the BJP side was represented by Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda, with Naidu and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan representing their parties TDP and JSP, respectively.

The discussions were earlier stuck as Naidu did not want to part with more than 4-5 Lok Sabha seats for the BJP out of 25 in Andhra Pradesh. Of the 175 seats in the Assembly, he was ready to give the BJP only 15, though there he indicated more flexibility.

Having set a target of 370 for itself for the Lok Sabha, the BJP wants to contest as many seats as possible on its own symbol. But it has been open to bargaining, as adding allies will help it meet the target it has set for the NDA, of 400-plus seats.

A source in the TDP earlier told The Indian Express that Naidu did not want to give away too many Lok Sabha seats as he wanted to retain some bargaining power in Parliament.

While the TDP and BJP had been allies earlier, Naidu broke the tie-up in 2018, citing the failure of the Centre to give Andhra Pradesh special category status as a reason. But if it was a strategic move ahead of the 2019 elections, it had backfired on the TDP miserably.

The TDP vote share had remained almost the same as 2014, but its seats in the Lok Sabha had dropped from 15 to just 3. The BJP had gone down from 2 seats and a vote share of 7% to 0 seats and only 0.98% of the votes, fewer than NOTA’s 1.5%.

Since then, Naidu has been trying to claw his way back into the NDA camp.

For the TDP chief, whose heirs are still to come into their own, another poll loss might have been debilitating. As of now, the YSRCP led by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy looks confident of winning again.

An alliance with the BJP gives Naidu the security of a strong partner, particularly at the Centre, as well as a buffer against the various investigations he is facing, apart from an increase in vote share. The JSP, which had already tied up with the NDA, had also been pressing the TDP to seal a deal with the BJP.

Apart from prolonging Naidu’s political career by a few more years, a seat at the NDA table would give him visibility at the Centre.

In November 2022, speaking at a public rally, Naidu had appealed to people to vote for him to keep him in politics. “If I have to continue, then you have to elect the TDP to power. Unless you ensure our victory in the next elections, they may be my last elections,’’ he had said.

The TDP’s bet is that having the BJP on its side would help it win over the voters disillusioned with the YSRCP but undecided whom to vote for. This may be especially true in several North Andhra Pradesh constituencies falling in the erstwhile undivided districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam. In the former undivided East Godavari and West Godavari districts, where the PM unveiled the statue of freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju in July 2022 too, the TDP may make gains now.

There is also a general belief that there is a pro-Modi sentiment in the state after the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

But while the TDP has been keen on a tie-up for some time, the BJP has been playing hard to get, particularly given the cushion enjoyed by it due to its friendly ties with the YSRCP.

In fact, the party also tried to get the YSRCP on board the NDA, offering ministerial berths at the Centre. But its chief Jagan Mohan Reddy was reluctant, though promising to continue his friendly ties towards the Centre and to extend issue-based backing.

It remains to be seen how that pans out now, given the BJP-TDP alliance.

For the BJP, it is another feather in its cap. The party accused of treating its partners badly under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah now has brought back on board one more former friend. While the JD(U) has joined it in Bihar, the BJD is on the cusp in Odisha, and the Akali Dal is said to be waiting at the door.