Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance, forged at Rajahmundry central jail mid-September last year in a charged-up political atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh following former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest, is showing signs of fissures.
TDP chief Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan last month announced their candidates unilaterally for two assembly seats each, for the state polls this year. While doing so, Kalyan even accused the big brother in the alliance TDP of violating “the coalition dharma”.
This comes even as Naidu and Kalyan keep reiterating their resolve to fight unitedly in order to dislodge the incumbent YSR Congress Party chief Jaganmohan Reddy from power.
Kalyan had also attended a TDP rally near Vizianagaram in mid-December to mark completion of TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh’s Yuva Galam padayatra in the state. Sharing the dais with Naidu, Kalyan resounded the need “to prevent the anti-YSRCP vote split for the TDP-JSP combine to come to power”.
The trouble began when Naidu, while addressing TDP cadres in Araku and Mandapeta a few days ago, announced names of two TDP leaders as candidates from the respective assembly segments.
In “retaliation”, Kalyan announced that his candidates will be in the fray from Razole and Rajanagaram.
Razole is the only seat the JSP had won in the 2019 state polls, while the other three seats are also in Godavari-Uttarandhra, areas where Kalyan has more influence.
“As they (TDP leadership) announced two seats, I am also, under special circumstances, declaring two seats,” Kalyan said, addressing his party functionaries at the JSP central office in Mangalagiri on Republic Day.
“Not just Chandrababu garu, I am also under tremendous pressure (from my party workers). To overcome it, I am today announcing Razole and Rajanagaram seats (from our side),” he said sarcastically.
Kalyan’s announcement came following reported objections of a JSP leader who was expecting the Mandapeta ticket.
Kalyan though asked the beaming party men and women to leave poll strategies (like seat share) to him in full faith to win the elections this time. “I won’t let any disrespect befall you. We have to be cohesive to prove ourselves,” he asserted.
A TDP leader said Naidu had to announce the candidates for Araku and Mandapeta to put an end to the local squabbles for party ticket.
“While YSRCP legislators are revolting against their leader for asking them to shift constituencies, there is a fierce competition for TDP tickets everywhere. The announcements were made to end segment-level tiffs within the party,” the TDP leader told ThePrint, defending the party chief’s move.
“The two leaders (Naidu and Kalyan) have clarity on seat-sharing. It can be noticed that Pawan reacted (to the TDP’s announcement) but has not rejected the TDP’s interest in the two seats (Araku and Mandapeta),” said the leader.
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Things on track, says Lokesh
The delay in arriving at a ratio formally and announcing the list of assembly segments that the TDP and JSP will contest is apparently exasperating the hopefuls in both parties. And the one-sided announcements, party leaders admit, are “needlessly” complicating the matters in an otherwise healthy relationship.
The state elections, to be held simultaneously with the general elections, are due in April — just over two months away, leaving not much time for TDP-JSP candidates for groundwork.
CM Jagan has already announced his YSRCP candidates for about 60 of total 175 assembly seats, dropping several sitting MLAs and making changes based on winnability factors according to his party surveys.
However, speaking to ThePrint, Lokesh said that “things are on track between the TDP and JSP”.
“We will announce the details soon,” Lokesh, who is Naidu’s son, said, when asked about the number of seats the TDP and JSP will contest respectively in the assembly and Lok Sabha arena.
Naidu and Kalyan are, one TDP leader said, expected to meet again this week in Hyderabad to chalk out the combined manifesto and seal an agreement on seats. One such meeting was held in Hyderabad in December.
In 2014, the fledgling JSP refrained from contesting and supported its allies TDP and BJP. The TDP won the assembly polls and formed the first government in the truncated state. In 2019, the three parties separated and Jagan stormed to power.
Nadendla Manohar, JSP’s political affairs committee chairman, said the seat-sharing talks could come to conclusion in a week’s time.
“We are going about it in a very scientific manner to ensure that our combine not only wins but gains as many seats as possible,” Nadendla, the last Speaker in united Andhra Pradesh’s assembly, told ThePrint, when asked about the share the JSP was seeking.
Nadendla stated that Kalyan’s announcement of two seats was “to keep up the morale of the party cadre”.
While one JSP leader put the party’s expectation at 60 seats, a TDP leader said Kalyan’s party had good prospects on about 30 seats only.
When asked if the TDP-JSP had deferred the conclusive round of seat-sharing talks, expecting the BJP to spell out its stand, a TDP leader said the chances of the BJP joining the combine were “bleak”.
Naidu and Kalyan are the only major political leaders from Andhra Pradesh to have attended the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration ceremony led by PM Narendra Modi on 22 January.
The JSP, while officially remaining an NDA ally (it rejoined in January 2020), has paired with the TDP. Naidu’s party had severed ties with the BJP acrimoniously in March 2018 over the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
Ahead of the 2019 polls, BJP chief strategist and then president Amit Shah stated that the BJP doors “are permanently closed for U-turn, opportunist CM Naidu”.
Kalyan attempted a rapprochement between the two. In the Vizianagaram rally, the actor-politician said he had impressed upon home minister Shah on the need to join the alliance.
The BJP so far has remained non-committal despite Naidu’s apparent overtures for a patch-up in the last couple of years.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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