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TDP chief Naidu, Pawan Kalyan call on Shah in Delhi; talks on alliance possible
It is more or less confirmed that the BJP would join the TDP-JanaSena alliance, which has already declared a list of 99 candidates for the assembly elections to the 175-member House, people aware of the development said
Hyderabad: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu and JanaSena Party chief Pawan Kalyan met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday night amid speculations of forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to fight the assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh together, people aware of the matter said.
Naidu left for New Delhi by a special flight from Hyderabad in the afternoon following a call from BJP top leadership a day before. Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan, too, joined Naidu in Delhi. “Both of them went to Shah’s residence together and began the talks,” a TDP leader privy to the development said, requesting anonymity. The leader added that BJP national president JP Nadda also took part in the negotiations.
It is more or less confirmed that the BJP would join the TDP-JanaSena alliance, which has already declared a list of 99 candidates for the assembly elections to the 175-member House. “Naidu and Pawan would be discussing the number of seats and constituencies where the BJP wants to contest in Andhra Pradesh. A clarity would emerge in a day or two,” the leader said. “Both the TDP and JanaSena chiefs would stay put in Delhi on Friday as well to continue talks.”
In Andhra Pradesh, both Lok Sabha and assembly polls are held simultaneously.
Sharing details of the ongoing negotiations, the TDP leader quoted above said the BJP has asked for five Lok Sabha seats and a dozen assembly seats to contest in the southern state. “Naidu has no objection in giving five Lok Sabha seats to the BJP, but he may not offer it more than eight assembly seats,” the leader added.
If the alliance works out, the three parties would release a common election manifesto, which is most likely to be done at a public meeting in Tirupati or Amaravati, the TDP leader added.
