New Delhi: JanaSena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan announced an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party Thursday for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections and Andhra Pradesh assembly polls. The development appears to be a move to force the hand of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has so far remained non-committal on joining hands with the former Andhra chief minister.
Kalyan’s announcement came after he visited the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison to meet Naidu, who was arrested by the state Crime Investigation Department Sunday in connection with an alleged scam in a skill development project.
“JanaSena and Telugu Desam will go together in the election,” Kalyan, whose JSP is an ally of the BJP, told reporters after meeting Naidu. He added that Andhra Pradesh “cannot afford” the rule of the YSR Congress Party led by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
JSP, a BJP ally, has long been advocating a BJP-TDP-JSP alliance in Andhra Pradesh, but the ruling party at the Centre has been non-committal as it’s weighing the pros and cons of fighting against Reddy’s party, which has been a reliable partner of the BJP for all practical purposes.
The TDP shares an on-again-off-again relationship with the BJP, having had a pre-poll alliance with it in 1999 and 2004 General Elections.
In 2014, the then newly-floated JanaSena had pledged support to BJP-TDP combine for the General Election. That year, the TDP ended up with 16 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP with three.
In 2018, Naidu snapped ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance citing broken promises, but is reportedly now keen on a rapprochement.
Meanwhile, in 2020, JSP officially entered into an alliance with the TDP.
When asked whether the BJP is on board with the JSP-TDP alliance, Nadendla Manohar, a senior party leader from JanaSena told ThePrint: “We are waiting for the BJP to respond. We are positive about it and we are looking forward to them joining this fight against the YSRCP”.
Lanka Dinakar, chief BJP spokesperson from Andhra, was, however, careful in his response to the same question
“Our stand is very clear that we follow the instructions of the central leadership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president J.P. Nadda will ultimately determine with which party the BJP will ally [with] in Andhra Pradesh,” Dinakar told ThePrint.
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‘No inclination as of now’
While the BJP remained tight-lipped on the issue, one of its leaders told ThePrint that so far the party has not decided on the alliance. A state unit leader said on condition of anonymity that “politics is at a very crucial juncture in the state and such decisions can’t be taken in haste”.
A second BJP leader pointed out that Pawan Kalyan’s “whole intention of joining hands with the BJP was to bring TDP in the NDA fold”.
“As far as the central leadership is concerned there is no inclination as of now and so the question of alliance doesn’t arise,” the leader told ThePrint. “Although Pawan Kalyan is an ally, he never interacts with the state unit and prefers to communicate with the central leadership only.”
Kalyan, he said, had indicated to the BJP top brass that he intended to ally with the TDP “as it suits him politically”.
“The BJP had told him that it will decide on it in due course of time,” said the BJP leader.
The second BJP leader further said that after Naidu quit the NDA alliance in 2018, he used “harsh words” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP — something that the cadre hasn’t forgotten.
“In politics, one can’t say anything with certainty but so far the party is not keen to have an alliance and wants the BJP to have an independent presence in the state,” the BJP leader said.
A party functionary meanwhile said if there is an alliance with TDP, it will also make things “a bit awkward” for those who quit that party to join the BJP.
“Even during the local elections, where we were officially with Pawan Kalyan, on the ground, there was no understanding. Rather he was supporting TDP candidates unofficially. For the past year, Kalyan has been going around stating that all anti-Jagan forces should come together, and in that sense he wants the BJP to also be part of the alliance,” he told ThePrint.
While the BJP has been reportedly giving hints of being open to an alliance with the TDP, nothing has been officially said.
However, after a stocktaking exercise, a section in the party is now of the opinion that for the crucial Lok Sabha elections “it would make greater electoral sense not to ally with the TDP and rather look towards the YSRCP which continues to enjoy greater support in the state”, the second BJP leader said.
YSRCP chief and chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, too, has been continuing to have “warm relations” with the BJP — significantly, he extended support to the government during a vote of no confidence brought by the Opposition in the Monsoon Session and also voted in favour of the Centre’s Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023.
The BJP has recently appointed D. Purandeswari, daughter of former chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, as its state president. Purandeshwari is also the sister-in-law of Chandrababu Naidu.
“He holds a legendary status in Andhra politics. Her elevation will help the party to appropriate NTR’s legacy in elections. She also belongs to the Kamma community and though Naidu has a strong traction among the Kammas, a section of the community is still very loyal to NTR,” the second BJP leader told ThePrint.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: BJP is riding two horses in Andhra Pradesh — courting Chandrababu Naidu, but Jagan still in sights