NEW DELHI: In a significant political development, sources on Friday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has successfully finalized seat-sharing agreements with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chandrababu Naidu and actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
As per the agreement, this newly forged alliance extends its scope to both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections scheduled for later this year. The BJP is anticipated to contest 6-8 seats in the Lok Sabha and 10-12 seats in the Assembly. Simultaneously, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena is set to contest on 3 Lok Sabha and 24 Assembly seats.
The list of probable BJP candidates includes D. Purandeshwari, Pradesh BJP President, possibly from Visakhapatnam or Rajamundry; Geetha Aleru from Araku (Reserved); C.R. Ramesh or Tapan Choudhury from Narasapuram; Raghurama Krishna Raju from Vijayawada; Former Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary or P.P. Veerprasad from Rajampet; Former CM Kiran Kumar Reddy from Hindupur; and Paripurnanand Swami from Hindupur.
Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan held crucial discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP Chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Thursday. Speculations arose that the TDP is likely to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh.
The TDP, once part of the BJP-led NDA until 2018, expressed interest in reviving the alliance after a substantial defeat in the 2019 elections. Talks of a tri-party alliance between regional parties and the BJP have circulated for some time. The Jana Sena Party, led by actor Pawan Kalyan and a former NDA member, has already aligned with the TDP.
Andhra Pradesh boasts 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats. In the previous elections, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party dominated, securing 22 of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 of its 175 Assembly segments.
Anticipated to take place in April-May, the Lok Sabha elections have the ruling BJP aiming for a third term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party has set an ambitious target of winning 370 seats independently and 400 with allies.