Lok Sabha Elections: BJP, Jana Sena, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP Reach Seat-Sharing Deal

Reportedly, the seats BJP is demanding for the Lok Sabha are Araku, Hindupur, Tirupati, Rajampet, Rajahmundry, Narasapuram and Visakhapatnam.

The BJP has come to an electoral deal with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena in Andhra Pradesh as it takes a major stride towards bringing back one of its former allies to the NDA fold. This comes after extensive discussions as the two parties were in talks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls. According to a report in India Today, the deal was finalised around midnight on Friday. As per the deal, the Jana Sena and BJP are likely to get nearly eight seats, out of the total 24 Lok Sabha seats. For the Andhra Pradesh assembly, the two parties are likely to get between 28 and 32 seats, sources told the publication. The remaining assembly seats are expected to be allotted to the TDP.

Reportedly, the seats BJP is demanding for the Lok Sabha are Araku, Hindupur, Tirupati, Rajampet, Rajahmundry, Narasapuram and Visakhapatnam. In the first meeting, TDP offered four seats to tBJP including Tirupati, Araku, Rajahmundry and Rajampet.

“Primarily, we have agreed to contest the upcoming polls together. TDP will become part of NDA. Right now, seat sharing and other modalities are being worked out. One meeting between our leader Chandrababu Naidu and home minister Amit Shah has already happened. There are certain remaining issues which will be sorted out in the second meeting on Friday evening,” TDP MP K Ravindra Kumar told ET.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party dominated both elections five years ago, winning 22 of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 of its 175 Assembly segments.

The BJP – which contested both on its own – failed to win a single seat in either. An alliance with state parties is unlikely to generate a significantly different outcome for the saffron party, but will boost its overall score and help reach the ‘abki baar 400 paar’ target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan meet Amit Shah again

N. Chnadrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan, who are camping in the national capital for a third day, held talks with Amit Shah at his residence on Saturday, March 9. This was their second meeting since March 7.

The BJP reportedly invited the TDP to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The TDP, which had severed ties with the NDA in 2018, is likely to attend a meeting of the NDA soon.

The TDP and Jana Sena have already announced their seat sharing agreement. The TDP has left 24 out of 175 Assembly and three out of 25 Lok Sabha seats for Jana Sena. The TDP has also announced its first list of 94 candidates while Jana Sena released the list of five candidates.

Jana Sena, which is part of BJP-led NDA, announced alliance with the TDP in September last year.

Rebel YSR Congress Party MP K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju said the alliance will soon be officially announced and said the coming together of the BJP, TDP, and Jana Sena Party is essential to rid the state of the “devil” ruling it — a swipe at Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party.

Senior TDP leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar had on Friday said that the BJP, the Jana Sena, and his party have decided in principle to work together for upcoming polls and the modalities are being worked out.