Major Development: TDP and BJP to Form Alliance for Telangana Elections?
The meeting that occurred between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nara Lokesh, the general secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), on Wednesday evening, has sparked rumors about a potential alliance between the two parties in Telangana.
Reliable sources within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) informed the media that the alliance is highly likely and will be officially announced after the release of N. Chandrababu Naidu in the coming days. These sources also mentioned that certain minor issues, such as the inclusion of Jana Sena in the alliance, will need to be resolved before the announcement. The specifics of seat sharing and seat allocation for the election partners will be worked out as well.
During his meeting with Amit Shah, Nara Lokesh was accompanied by G. Kishan Reddy, the Telangana BJP chief, and D. Purandeswari, his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh. Telugu Desam Party sources have claimed that the Union Minister’s assurance that justice will prevail has revitalized the TDP cadre and instilled hope of some form of relief from the ongoing pressure imposed by the YSR Congress government in corruption cases.
In Telangana, a faction of veteran leaders had advocated for a TDP alliance, but their efforts were thwarted when Bandi Sanjay Kumar was at the helm. Numerous aspirants in the HMDA region, along with Kishan Reddy and Sanjay himself, were among the first to denounce Naidu’s arrest. After some wavering, the Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) leadership also condemned the arrest.
However, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao faced criticism from TDP sympathizers for limiting protests in the city. As a form of damage control, Minister T. Harish Rao publicly condemned Naidu’s arrest. Some BJP leaders argue that the BRS can no longer invoke regional sentiment after making inroads into Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. “Recently, KTR encouraged investors to set up businesses in Andhra Pradesh and offered to mediate with Jagan Mohan Reddy for land for these investors,” noted a BJP leader.
The Jana Sena Party, which is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), adhered to the “Raj Dharma” and withdrew from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, subsequently extending support to BJP candidates. Sources indicate that BJP had informed Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party of a roadmap for Telangana as well, but this did not materialize, reportedly due to differences of opinion between Bandi Sanjay and G. Kishan Reddy.
Jana Sena Party has been actively attempting to forge a tripartite alliance with BJP and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, and sources suggest that a similar arrangement could be pursued in Telangana.
When contacted for a response, Nadendla Manohar stated that he was unaware of any developments following the meeting between Lokesh and Shah. While making the party’s position clear regarding participation in the elections in Telangana, he expressed the need to recognize the growing voices in and around Hyderabad, as demonstrated by the extensive protests in IT corridors, and provide them with the appropriate acknowledgment.
The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) intensified its social media campaign against the TDP, criticizing its “opportunistic” politics by sharing videos of Naidu and Lokesh vehemently opposing Modi and Shah.
Nevertheless, the official stance of the YSRCP remains consistent, with its general secretary, S. Ramakrishna Reddy, asserting that the party will contest the elections independently and remains unconcerned about any alliances formed by opposition parties.
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