On Saturday (9th March), TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu confirmed that the party has forged an alliance with the Bhartiya Janata Party for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. In an off-the-record talk with a group of journalists, he noted that Andhra Pradesh has been destroyed badly. While lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, he described the BJP-TDP alliance as a “win-win” situation for the country and the state.
Andhra Pradesh has been destroyed badly. BJP, TDP coming together win-win situation for country, state: N Chandrababu Naidu
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 9, 2024
Further, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena is also an alliance partner of both parties for the upcoming polls and it has also joined the NDA camp.
BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda welcomed the parties in the NDA camp stating that leaders of the alliance are committed to the progress of the country and the upliftment of the state and people of Andhra Pradesh.
I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of Shri @ncbn and Shri @PawanKalyan to join the NDA family. Under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi ji, BJP, TDP, and JSP are committed to the progress of the country and the upliftment of the state and…
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (Modi Ka Parivar) (@JPNadda) March 9, 2024
With this, the Telugu Desam Party has returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold six years after exiting it. As per News agency ANI, TDP MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar also confirmed that TDP is joining NDA.
"Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is joining NDA," confirms TDP MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar pic.twitter.com/TAcR8Psk2g
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024
Regarding the TDP-BJP-Jana Sena’s tripartite alliance for Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, TDP President Naidu asserted that it will be a “clean sweep”.
While the exact details on the seat-sharing formula is yet to be announced, according to media reports BJP could get 6 seats, JanaSena will field candidates on 2 seats while the remaining 17 seats in the state will go in the TDP kitty. As part of the deal, around 30 Assembly seats will be divided between Jana Sena and BJP. Andra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies.
A statement issued by BJP said that the modalities of seat sharing will be deliberated within a day or two. “We hope that the alliance will come up to the expectation of people of Andhra Pradesh with their wholehearted support of people at large,” the party stated.
The BJP said, “The BJP and TDP have a very old relationship together. TDP joined NDA in 1996 and has worked together successfully in Atal Ji’s and Narendra Modi Ji’s government. In 2014, the TDP and the BJP fought the Lok Sabha election and assembly election together. The JSP had supported the 2014 general and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.”
The confirmation of the tripartite alliance comes hours after TDP President Naidu held the second round of talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday (9th March).
Notably, Lok Sabha and state assembly polls will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh. Alliance negotiations had been ongoing between leaders of the three parties for several days and it resumed on Friday.
Earlier on Friday (8th March), Senior TDP leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar had admitted that the BJP, the Jana Sena, and his party have decided in principle to work together for upcoming polls adding that the modalities are being worked out.
While the TDP and BJP had been allies earlier, Chandrababu Naidu broke ties with the NDA in 2018, in a bid to combine a third front under his leadership. However, after the party’s crushing defeat, Naidu made efforts to again join the NDA camp.
