After securing Telangana and Karnataka, is Congress eyeing Andhra by enticing NCBN, Sharmila?

New Delhi: The Congress is believed to be eyeing further expansion in southern India, soon after securing power and installing its governments in Telangana and Karnataka. The grand old party is understood to be working on a strategy to entice two possible allies, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and senior leader YS Sharmila, for attempts to regain power in Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress is hoping to rope in NCBN and Sharmila in a possible alliance to take on Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led ruling YSR Congress Party.

It is learnt that senior leaders of the Congress are in touch with both Naidu and Sharmila to test the waters regarding their political moves ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and state Assembly polls, sources said.

The Congress is hoping to make major gains in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the three southern states of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The leadership feels that if the grand old party is able to secure over 100 seats, along with its INDIA bloc allies, in the five southern states, it would really make it difficult for the BJP to secure power at the Centre in 2024.

Though the Telugu Desam Party had snapped ties with the BJP and exited the NDA in March 2018, Naidu had over the past few months tried to cozy up to the saffron camp. Employing the services of actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan to secure an audience with the top leadership of the saffron unit. However, the BJP is seemingly in no mood for an alliance with the TDP, and the saffron party has so far decided to maintain a distance from NCBN.

This rebuff by the BJP has also led to the TDP leadership being open to other possibilities in the state. Naidu is seemingly desperate to secure power in the southern state and has already announced that this would be his last political contest.

This has also led to the TDP’s coming close to political strategist Prashant Kishore. PK is understood to have signed up with TDP ahead of the Lok Sabha and Andhra elections. He was also seen in Vijayawada with the son of Naidu, Nara Lokesh, in a private jet.

It must be recalled that, ahead of the Telangana assembly polls, the Congress had been trying to woo Sharmila for the past several months. However, the alliance didn’t materialize as the state unit and leadership of Congress opposed the possible onboarding. The Congress's high command had buckled under pressure from party leaders, particularly state chief A Revanth Reddy against any alliance with Sharmila. A relook at a possible role for her against her brother is being done, sources said.

The grand old party feels that its best chance of stopping Prime Minister Narendra Modi from securing a third term may come from sweeping the southern states. Plus, with a strong alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, the Congress is hoping to wipe out the saffron front from south India. Hence, the focus on securing an alliance in Andhra Pradesh, sources added.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the YSRCP had swept to power, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly. It also secured 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. The TDP finished a distant second with 23 Assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.

If the Congress is able to create a formidable alliance in Andhra, it could really boost its own prospects of cobbling up numbers at the Centre in 2024.