Chandrababu Naidu set to return to NDA fold

Senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar claimed on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Jana Sena and his party have decided in principle to work together for upcoming polls and the modalities are being worked out.

A day after TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu held deliberations with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief J P Nadda, Kumar told PTI that preliminary discussions have taken place for the "purpose of an alliance" for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls, which are held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh.

"In principle, the BJP, TDP and Jana Sena have decided to work together," he added.

Jana Sena president and actor Pawan Kalyan was also part of the discussions that went on for more than an hour and a half at Shah's residence here on Thursday night.

Sources said the number of seats the BJP will get in such an alliance remains a sticking point. Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies.

The top leaders of the three parties may hold another round of discussions to sort out the differences and finalise the arrangements, the sources added.

While the BJP wants to contest more than 20 Assembly and around eight Lok Sabha seats, the main opposition party in the southern state, TDP, is unwilling to concede more than five-six parliamentary seats. The TDP also wants the BJP, which is a marginal player in Andhra Pradesh, to not contest more than 10 Assembly seats, the sources said.

TDP leaders believe that agreeing to the BJP's demand may hand over an advantage to the state's ruling YSR Congress Party, headed by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Though the BJP has made no official comments on the negotiations, some of its leaders have argued that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal can prove to be the "X factor" that may tilt the balance of power in favour of such an alliance.

The BJP is keen on expanding the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and is believed to have come close to sealing a tie-up with Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), its former ally like the TDP.

While Naidu had walked out of the BJP-led NDA in 2018 in protest against the Centre not granting a special status to Andhra Pradesh, BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had quit the alliance in 2009.