Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP-TDP-Jana Sena Party tie-up almost sealed; announcement likely today
A potential alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and Jana Sena Party for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 seems imminent, with sources indicating that the deal is nearly finalized.
FollowThe deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party for the forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is almost done, sources said on Thursday. According to sources, Naidu and Kalyan will meet the BJP top leadership this evening following which announcement could come regarding seat sharing.
The TDP and the Jana Sena have already announced the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The first list has 94 candidates from the TDP and five candidates from Jana Sena. Now, with an alliance with the BJP on the horizon, the Jana Sena could allot four MP seats and six MLA seats to the saffron party, sources hinted.
Before leaving for the national capital, Chandrababu held discussions with Kalyan, who is in alliance with BJP. Meanwhile, the state leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has deferred the final decision regarding alliances and the potential inclusion of the TDP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to the party's central leadership. BJP insiders reveal that state-level party officials have affirmed their commitment to abide by directives from the party's high command. BJP state president Daggubati Purandeshwari is also in New Delhi to hold discussions with the party's top brass about the alliance with TDP and Jana Sena.Â
On the other hand, Kalyan is working on releasing the joint manifesto following his discussions with Naidu on Wednesday. The two leaders, who had already released a declaration at a meeting held Tuesday, will now jointly release the manifesto. Efforts are being made to hold a meeting in Tirupati or Amaravati soon to release the manifesto. If the alliance with the BJP is finalised, there is a possibility that the latter may join the manifesto release event.
The Jana Sena Party, which is already a part of the BJP-led NDA, forged an alliance with the TDP even before a decision was made by the BJP. Pawan Kalyan, the leader of Jana Sena, had persistently urged the BJP leadership to join the alliance to prevent a division of anti-YSRCP (YSR Congress Party) votes.
In a significant development, N. Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of TDP, held discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda in Delhi on February 7, aiming to explore the possibility of forming a tripartite electoral alliance for the upcoming elections. While TDP leaders asserted that the meeting was convened at the BJP's invitation, no conclusive decision was reached regarding the alliance.
Having terminated its association with the BJP in 2018, the TDP has shown interest in re-establishing the alliance after experiencing a significant setback in the 2019 elections. However, the BJP has remained indifferent to Naidu's overtures, citing the cordial relationship maintained between the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in the state and the Union government. The Jagan government has consistently supported the Union government in passing various crucial bills in Parliament, which has contributed to the BJP's reserved stance towards resuming ties with the TDP.
