The BJP is expected to get a shot in the arm in Andhra Pradesh as sitting MP from Visakhapatnam and Union Minister Purandeshwari is likely to join the party.
Politics in the South is set to see more churning in the days to come as actor Vijaykanth-led DMDK signalled that it was going with the BJP, the left parties walked out of their alliance with the AIADMK, and former Andhra Pradesh CM Kiran Kumar Reddy announced to form a new regional outfit.
However, the highlight of the day was Purandeshwari’s decision to cross over to the BJP. Daughter of Telugu thespian and founder of Telugu Desam Party, Purandeshwari was unhappy with the Congress over bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Her husband Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, member of the State Assembly had also dissociated himself from the Congress.
There were speculations of Purandeshwari charting a new course for herself. But her reported decision to join the BJP has caught people by surprise as the BJP had also supported the bifurcation. Purandeshwari’s move is a major setback to the Congress, especially in Seemandhra region where it is already in deep trouble.
Sources said Purandeshwari will formally join the BJP in New Delhi on Friday in the presence of party president Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu and others. It is understood that she will contest from Visakhapatnam lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. The BJP had won Visakhapatnam seat in the past.
Purandeshwari’s entry into the BJP is also likely to affect prospects of the BJP-TDP alliance in Seemandhra region as Purandeshwari is a bitter opponent of Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu. After taking over reigns of the TDP in 1995, Naidu had sidelined Daggubati Venkateswara Rao and other family members.
Meanwhile, the DMDK has started seat-sharing talks with the BJP. In a statement, the DMDK said: “The party decided to contest the lok Sabha elections through an alliance and talks are on with the BJP.”
Confident of a positive outcome of the talks, BJP’s Tamil Nadu president, Pon Radhakrishnan said that seat sharing will be concluded in a day or two with the DMDK.
“We hope to announce the list of candidates and constituencies in the next three days. Efforts are on to ensure the presence of Rajnath Singh for the announcement of the launch of the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu,” Pon Radhakrishnan said.
The BJP has already struck an alliance with the Vaiko-led MDMK and is holding talks with Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in the State.
Tamil Nadu politics took another interesting twist when CPI(M) and CPI called off their alliance with the AIADMK. This came after AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa refused to concede their demands for three seats each. “Both the Communist parties met today to take stock of the situation.
Though six rounds of talks were held with the AIADMK leadership regarding the number of seats and constituencies to be contested by us, the AIADMK was not willing for an amicable settlement. Hence we felt it is futile to continue the alliance with it. CPI(M) and the CPI decided on Thursday to contest the lok Sabha elections together,” said G Ramakrishnan, secretary, Tamil Nadu CPI(M) after a joint meeting of both the parties.
The AIADMK was willing to offer only one seat each to the CPI(M) and the CPI while the left parties demanded three seats each. Then Jayalalithaa unilaterally declared the names of all the AIADMK candidates for the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry. She is in the midst of her campaign and has kept silent over these developments with her allies during the last three election meetings addressed by her.
Thursday saw Jayalalithaa campaigning at Nagapattinam, a CPI bastion, where she introduced the AIADMK candidate to the voters. In her 45-minute-long speech, Jayalalithaa did not mention anything about her alliance with the CPI and the CPI(M).
Ramakrishnan and David Pandian, the CPI secretary, who met reporters together at the CPI(M) State headquarters said they would take a decision on the possibility of aligning with other parties in the coming days. Insiders said the parties would soon release the names of candidates and constituencies.
In Delhi, after approaching the Supreme Court against the Centre’s decision to carve Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Reddy on Thursday announced formation of a new party.
Reddy had resigned as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana issue.The new party’s policies and programmes will be announced at a public meeting at Rajahmundry on 12 March, said Reddy.
Earlier in the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sathasivam , before whom the matter was mentioned, agreed to list his plea along with other petitions which will be taken up on Friday for hearing.