Naidu has a lot to answer, says Congress after TDP joins NDA along with Pawan Kalyan's party

Chandrababu Naidu said the alliance will sweep the election and it will be a win-win for Andhra Pradesh.

Updated on: Mar 9, 2024, 20:21:57 IST

By HT News Desk

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After Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party on Saturday joined the NDA for the upcoming Lok Sabha election and the assembly election in Andhra Pradesh, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it was a shameless act on part of the TDP. In 2018, TDP walked out of the NDA "because of the Prime Minister's failure to give Andhra Pradesh its due through special category status for the state", Jairam Ramesh said adding that now the TDP has shamelessly gone back to the NDA though in the last six years, PM Modi continued to fail the people of Andhra Pradesh. "Congress is the only national party that has consistently promised to give Andhra Pradesh special category status for five years," Jairam Ramesh wrote.

Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam, Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party will fight the election together with the BJP. (Tharun Vinny)

There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Jagan Mohan's YSRCP won 22 and Naidu's TDP won the rest 3 with the Congress and the BJP winning no seat. Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena came third in vote share though it did not win any Lok Sabha seat.

In the Andhra Pradesh assembly, the election of which will also be held this year, YSRCP has 151 seats out of 175, Telugu Desam 23 and Jana Sena 1.

In a joint statement announcing the alliance of the three parties for the Lok Sabha and the assembly election, which was issued after the three parties sealed their deal, it was said that the BJP and the TDP have a very old relationship. “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 the assembly election together,” it said.

"I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan to join the NDA family. Under the dynamic and visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, BJP, TDP, and JSP are committed to the progress of the country and the upliftment of the state and people of Andhra Pradesh," BJP chief JP Nadda posted.

The seat-sharing deal has not yet been disclosed but has been finalised among the three partners.

Naidu said the BJP and the TDP coming together is a win-win situation for Andhra Pradesh and there will be a sweep.

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