In a significant move towards winning back a former ally, the BJP has reached an electoral agreement with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena and Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. This is the result of lengthy negotiations between the two parties prior to the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections. A report in India Today claims that the agreement was finalised on Friday night at midnight. According to the agreement, the BJP and Jana Sena will likely receive almost eight of the 24 Lok Sabha seats available.
Both parties are expected to receive between 28 and 32 seats in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, according to sources who spoke with the publication. Presumably, the TDP will be given the remaining assembly seats.
It is said that the BJP is requesting the seats of Araku, Hindupur, Tirupati, Rajampet, Rajahmundry, Narasapuram, and Visakhapatnam in the Lok Sabha. The TDP gave the BJP four seats in the first meeting, 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.
The TDP is said to have received an invitation from the BJP to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The TDP is expected to attend an NDA meeting shortly after severing its ties with the group in 2018.
The TDP and Jana Sena have declared their intention to share seats in advance. Out of 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats, the TDP has left 24 for the Jana Sena. While Jana Sena unveiled its list of five candidates, the TDP also unveiled its initial list of 94 candidates.
In September of last year, the BJP-led Jana Sena announced an alliance with the TDP.
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Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP reaches seat-sharing deal with Jana Sena and TDP in Andra Pradesh
