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Almost six years after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) walked out of the BJP-led NDA, in March 2018, accusing it of ignoring pleas to grant Special Category Status (SCS) to a truncated Andhra Pradesh post the formation of Telangana in 2014, the Chandrababu Naidu-led outfit is close to rejoining the alliance.
Naidu arrived in Delhi on Thursday, in what party insiders called a last-ditch attempt to convince the top BJP leadership for an alliance. He huddled with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda in a late-night meeting. Sources said actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, whose party Jana Sena Party (JSP) is already in the NDA and in an alliance with TDP in Andhra Pradesh, also attended the meeting. Sources said the two parties have agreed in principle to an alliance and seat-sharing details are being worked out.
The BJP, which is yet to find its footing in Andhra Pradesh and received a drubbing in the last election in the state, is looking to increase its presence in the state. Allying with the TDP-JSP combine will only help it reach its ambitious target of 370 Lok Sabha seats set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As for the TDP, while the BJP may not bring much to the table electorally in Andhra, an alliance will reinforce its election machinery given the BJP’s organisational might.
“Apart from that, the tie-up will signal to the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which enjoys friendly relations with the BJP, that the Centre is on our side,” a senior TDP leader said, on the condition of anonymity.
The TDP chief’s arrest in the alleged Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation scam in September last year is also a factor in the party seeking security in having the Centre on its side. The JSP-TDP alliance was announced while Naidu was in jail.
Both TDP and JSP insiders say it was Kalyan who prodded Naidu and the BJP leadership to come to the negotiation table. “The BJP was not keen on allying with the TDP as a section of its state unit sees Naidu as a ‘traitor’, and someone who cannot be relied upon. It was our party chief who saw potential in the alliance to defeat the corrupt YSRCP,” a district office-bearer of the JSP in Visakhapatnam said.
Sources said Kalyan is hoping that a good BJP-TDP-JSP performance in Andhra Pradesh will ensure his party is also heard in Telangana, especially after the drubbing it received in last year’s Assembly elections.
The TDP formally joined the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996, with Naidu as the convenor of the alliance. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which it fought in alliance with the BJP, the TDP won 15 of the state’s 25 seats, with a vote share of just over 40%, while the BJP won 2 seats with a vote share of 7%.
Five years later, in 2019, when the two parties fought separately after the TDP had left the NDA, the TDP vote share remained almost intact but its seats dropped to just 3. The BJP drew a blank and garnered only 0.98% of the votes, fewer than NOTA’s 1.5%.
The two parties contested the 2014 Assembly polls in March-April in alliance. Legislators for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were chosen in this election, with Telangana carved out after the polls.
The TDP came to power in Andhra Pradesh following the elections, having won 102 of the state’s 175 seats with a vote share of 44.9%. It also won 15 of the 119 seats that fell in Telangana’s kitty, with a vote share of 14.7%.
The BJP garnered 2% of the votes in Andhra, winning 4 seats, while in Telangana, it drew a blank.
In 2019, when the TDP and BJP fought separately, the TDP was virtually wiped out and emerged victorious in only 23 of the 175 Assembly seats in the state, with a vote share of 39.1%. The BJP drew a blank. getting less than 1% of the votes.
TDP national spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagari said having met Shah and Nadda on Thursday, Naidu will hold a second meeting on Friday afternoon, “and an announcement (regarding the alliance) is likely to be made after that or on Saturday”.
“The BJP has demanded 7-8 Lok Sabha seats and 15 Assembly seats. “We offered them 4 Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats. Discussions will be held in this regard,” a TDP leader accompanying Naidu said.
A TDP source said the BJP is keen on contesting Visakhapatnam, Araku, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Rajampet, Tirupati and Hindupur Lok Sabha seats. “They are ready to dial down on the number of Assembly seats but are insistent on the Lok Sabha seats,” the source said.
The TDP-JSP combine last month released a list of 99 candidates for the Assembly polls, where it was announced that the JSP would contest 24 seats. Candidates for 57 seats had been put on hold as the two parties were reportedly waiting for the BJP’s decision. Party insiders said there is no clarity on whether the BJP’s share of 15 seats will come from the JSP’s. “Seat-sharing talks are on. There will be more clarity on this aspect after the discussions are completed,” a TDP leader said.
