All three regional parties in Andhra Pradesh — YSRCP, TDP, and Jana Sena — are playing their cards to gain BJP's support ahead of polls.
Published Feb 11, 2024 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 11, 2024 | 10:00 AM
PM Modi masks during Hyderabad election campaign in 2023. (Supplied)
In Andhra, all the key regional parties in the state want to ally with the BJP, but whom the BJP chooses in these elections is what matters to them.
In the last general elections in 2019, BJP won fewer votes than NOTA, which amounted to 0.84 percent. Nevertheless, leaders are still lining up in Delhi seeking its support.
As reported earlier by South First, the leaders believe that the support of the Union government for a bifurcated state like Andhra, which is struggling with finances, is crucial for keeping election promises. Additionally, they see political advantages in aligning with the BJP.
The Jana Sena Party, led by Pawan Kalyan, is in alliance with the NDA and has announced the pact with the TDP, expecting the NDA to also join the alliance. However, this hasn’t happened so far.
A recent visit to Delhi by Chandrababu Naidu, where he met the saffron party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 7 February, indicates the reunion of TDP-JSP and BJP for the 2024 elections.
But Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy didn’t hesitate and immediately flew to the national capital to meet the saffron party leaders on 8 February upon Naidu’s return from Delhi.
Though YS Jagan isn’t an ally of the BJP, he has maintained a soft approach with the BJP and has not opposed the single NDA Bill so far in his tenure.
According to sources that South First approached, while Pawan Kalyan is pushing Naidu to join the NDA to take on YSRCP in the forthcoming 2024 elections, YS Jagan issued a caution.
Jagan Mohan Reddy is learnt to have cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay away from the TDP and not trust Naidu. In exchange, Jagan has assured to continue his soft approach and support to the saffron party.
The TDP-JSP and BJP, an alliance that won the elections in 2014, make the combination a pivotal factor for the Jana Sena to challenge the mighty YSRCP in the forthcoming elections.
Sources close to Pawan Kalyan said that he thinks that TDP-JSP and BJP contesting individually helped YS Jagan come to power with a majority of 151 Assembly seats, which wouldn’t have happened if the alliance continued.
Pawan Kalyan was pushing the TDP and the BJP to come together, but initially, neither was interested in the reunion.
As reported by South First, only recently did Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite initially rejecting Pawan Kalyan’s request for an alliance with TDP, accept it but subject to further discussions.
The TDP chief, who undecided so far, has recently come to the opinion that effective poll management would be challenging without involving the BJP in the alliance being cobbled together to oust the ruling YSRCP.
Acting on his decision, Chandrababu Naidu, already in a pact with Jana Sena, met the BJP leaders in Delhi. Sources close to the TDP chief Naidu told South First that it was on the invitation of the BJP top brass to join the NDA that Naidu paid a visit to Delhi.
An initial understanding on the alliance arithmetic has taken place, where seat-sharing would be further discussed with other party members and advisors. Naidu also expressed regret for parting ways with the BJP in 2018 and assured of long term relation with the saffron party.
From an earlier report, other senior sources informed South First that the TDP offered around six Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly seats for the Jana Sena and the BJP.
The senior source claimed, “There may be a change in the number of Lok Sabha seats with one or two, but we are confident that the alliance is almost confirmed, and soon, the leaders would announce.”
The sources added, “In the event of no alliance with the BJP also, the TDP and JSP will go ahead with the polls, as both parties are already campaigning with each other — and announced two each from their sides in alliances.”
There are 175 seats in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, and the state sends 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha and 11 MPs to the Rajya Sabha. In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP swept the field with 151/175 seats in the Assembly, 22 in the Lower House, and nine in the Upper House of the Parliament.
The numbers in the Rajya Sabha are what have propelled the relation with the BJP. YSRCP has not been directly in alliance with the BJP, popularly because of the party’s foothold among the Christian and Muslim minorities in the state, as any affiliation would hamper its minority vote share in the state.
But the party has been supporting all the Bills in both Houses, including that of CAA and now-repealed farm laws. It is also to be noted that despite the party leaders extending support to the controversial Bills, they have also supported the protests outside against the Bills.
A senior source from the YSRCP said that YS Jagan had a photo session on 8 February in the Assembly as it was the last session in his first tenure, but he had to leave for Delhi.
The sources stated, “The meeting is political. Center-State issues were discussed.”
“YS Jagan asked the NDA leaders not to fall for TDP’s trap, as Naidu has a track record as a defaulter and lacks trust. So, YS Jagan assured the centre of the same support even after the 2024 elections and asked the NDA leaders to carefully think about joining the TDP.
“If in all circumstances, the NDA has to go with the TDP-JSP, nothing much should be different with the BJP-YSRCP, and the cooperation would continue with a soft approach in post-poll as well,” the sources claimed.
There are also issues ranging from Special Status, a metro for Visakhapatnam, and funds for the Polavaram project discussed, the source stated.
However, the saffron party is yet to respond to the states’ two key leaders’ meeting. These developments come at a time the opposition Congress-led INDIA block has been dented with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar returning to the NDA fold.
