A senior BJP leader said his party is open to an alliance but it will depend on how many seats the TDP agrees to give it.
N Chandrababu Naidu.
TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, 7 February, met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda. The meeting came amid indications that the two parties may join hands, once again, in Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming polls.
South First had earlier reported that Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan’s initiative to bring both parties together was nearing finalisation.
Elections for Lok Sabha and the State Assembly will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu met Shah at his residence, with sources saying that Nadda was also present in the meeting.
If Naidu returns to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, he will be the second major regional leader to have done so. Janata Dal (United) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the Opposition and joined the BJP-led NDA fold in January.
The TDP president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, sources said, is keen to join hands with the BJP and a section of the ruling party believes that an alliance with Naidu will help the NDA do well in the state ruled by the YSRCP.
A senior BJP leader said his party is open to an alliance but it will all depend on how many seats the TDP, the main opposition party in the state, agrees to give it, especially for the Lok Sabha polls.
Both had fought the 2014 polls together when Telangana was yet to be formally separated from Andhra Pradesh. The BJP had then fought three seats and won all of them out of the 42 seats in the united state.
Following Telangana’s creation, Andhra Pradesh has 25 seats and the BJP is keen to contest on anywhere between six to eight seats, sources said.
The TDP had walked out of the NDA in 2018 but suffered majorly in the 2019 polls when it could win only three Lok Sabha seats and lost power in the state to the YSRCP, which has mostly supported the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on key issues for the past five years.
However, political equations have prompted the BJP to explore the possibility of reviving its ties with the TDP, which has been pursuing the matter in earnest for long.
Actor Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party, which was a BJP ally, has already decided to join hands with the TDP.
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