cracks-surface-in-the-tdp-jana-sena-alliance-in-andhra

Even before seat-sharing agreement could be finalised, cracks appear to have surfaced in the alliance between the Telugu Desam Party, headed by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party in Andhra Pradesh.

 

At a time when both the opposition parties are required to put up a united fight to dislodge the YSR Congress government headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the differences have cropped up over assessing their mutual strengths at the ground level.  

 

Miffed with the TDP’s decision to unilaterally announce its candidates for two assembly segments Mandapeta and Araku, the Jana Sena supremo Pawan Kalyan, in a tit-for-tat response, declared that his party would contest from Razole and Rajanagaram in the key coastal region.

 

“They (TDP) should have followed the dharma of alliance. Since they announced the names unilaterally, I am also under pressure to make a counter move. These things do happen. We need to sort them out and keep focused on our larger goal of defeating this government,” Pawan Kalyan said while addressing the party cadre.

 

He also appeared upset over the reports emanating from the TDP camp that Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh would be made the chief minister in the event of the TDP-JSP alliance coming to power in the April-May elections.

 

Despite the tit-for-tat announcements of candidates, the two parties are unlikely to escalate the friction any further. The leadership of both the parties recognise the importance of the alliance to take on the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. They are acutely aware of the fact that any split in the anti-government votes would eventually benefit the ruling party. In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP pulled off a landslide victory, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly while the TDP was reduced to 23. The JSP managed to win just one seat.

 

“I am fully aware that if we (JSP) contest on our own, we will not be able to form the government. In order to dislodge this regime, we have to put up a joint fight. There has to be a give-and-take approach between us (TDP and JSP),” the actor-turned-politician said.  

 

The two parties had announced a formal electoral alliance in September 2023. Since then,  both Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan have been holding talks on seat sharing and also on preparing a common poll manifesto.  

 

The BJP, already in alliance with the JSP, is, however, a divided house over the issue of reviving tie-up with the TDP.

 

The TDP, which was once part of the NDA, had walked out of the alliance in March 2018 to protest against the denial of ‘special category status’ to Andhra Pradesh as per the promise made during the bifurcation of the state.

 

While it is generally believed in political circles that, as a natural progression of events, the three parties—TDP, JSP and BJP—would eventually fight the polls together, the reality is a bit complicated. A section of the state BJP leaders are wary of joining hands with Chandrababu Naidu, given their bitter experience in the past.