BJP wants stronger Chandrababu Naidu as it goes alone in Andhra polls

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party is closely monitoring the uptick in popularity of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, which was indicated by a stampede at his recent roadshow. 

However, despite NCBN’s gains, the saffron unit is unlikely to rethink an alliance with the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister as the party feels that a three-cornered contest would help the BJP secure its foothold in the southern Indian state and emerge as a third force.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to have vetoed any attempts for a possible alliance with N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. 

Sources said that the BJP has decided to go it alone against the YSRCP in the state in the forthcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

The party feels that a three-cornered contest and the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would help it secure a foothold in the state in the forthcoming Assembly polls. This is being considered possible as YSRCP and TDP would be fighting to secure the top spot in the state and leaving space for a third force to emerge, sources said,

Sources in the BJP stated that rejection of a possible alliance with the TDP came days after Jana Sena chief and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan is understood to have approached the Prime Minister for a possible grand alliance against the ruling YSR Congress Party. 

However, the possibility of TDP coming back into the National Democratic Alliance fold, for the 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, has currently been ruled out.

The decision to go it alone in Andhra has also been taken by the BJP keeping an eye on the long-term growth plan for the saffron unit. This would provide the saffron unit with an opportunity to establish local leaders and cadres in the state, sources said.

The TDP had snapped ties with the BJP and exited the NDA in March 2018 over the demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Sources stated that Naidu’s personal allegations against PM Modi ahead of the exit were also the reason that BJP isn’t keen on his return to the NDA fold.

The announcement by NCBN that the 2024 polls would be the last electoral battle of his political career is being seen as another positive by the BJP for its establishment in the southern state.

In Andhra, over the past few years, the BJP has been trying to emerge as the new opposition with an aim to sideline N Chandrababu Naidu and target CM Jagan Mohan Reddy directly. 

With the Jagan government facing a severe anti-incumbency in less than four years, the BJP feels that its alliance with Pawan Kalyan would emerge stronger in the next Assembly polls.  

BJP is expected to use a strong Hindutva pitch and raise conversion issues over the next few months as the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls near, sources said.

The party has set a target of winning 100 seats in Lok Sabha from the five southern states of the country. Andhra elects 25 members to the lower house of the Parliament.

The move to secure more seats from South India was prompted after senior leadership felt that the party had reached its saturation point of winning Lok Sabha seats in the north, west and Northeast Indian states.

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. Pawan Kalyan's JSP, which made the electoral debut, bagged just one Assembly seat. The BJP had drawn a blank and now the party hopes to make amends and grow its political base in Andhra and emerge as a force to reckon with.