Even as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was all set to undertake a whirlwind one-day tour of Telangana on April 22, in Seemandhra the TDP-BJP tie-up seem to have run into trouble.
Source in TDP said that party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was having second thoughts about continuing the alliance. The BJP central leaders in New Delhi, however, maintained that “the alliance was very much there”.
“It is a benchmark alliance, irritants would be there till the day of filing of nominations on April 19,” BJP in-charge of Seemandhra Prakash Javadekar told The Pioneer. He said issues would be “sorted out at the earliest” indicating that “few shifting and shuffling in Assembly seats could be affected.”
Naidu was upset with what the TDP leaders describe as “wrong and weak choice” of candidates in the lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies left for the BJP. At the same time the continuing trouble within his own party over the seats given to the BJP was also forcing Naidu to think in terms of ending the alliance in the Seemandhra region.
TDP had initially given five lok Sabha and 15 Assembly seats to the BJP but faced with lack of strong and winnable candidates, the BJP surrendered one lok Sabha and Assembly seat to the TDP.
Sources said that Naidu was unhappy with the decision of the BJP to field his sister-in-law D Purandeswari from Rajampet lok Sabha constituency in Kadapa district despite his opposition to her candidature.
Similarly, Naidu was also unhappy with the BJP’s choice for Narsapuram lok Sabha constituency in West Godavari district. The saffron party nominated Gokaraju Ranga Raju. Naidu was in favour of another BJP leader Raghurama Krishnam Raju. Sources said that BJP chose Ranga Raju at the behest of RSS leadership.
As the TDP leaders approached the media to let Naidu’s unhappiness be known, it was also being seen as an attempt to pressurise BJP in changing some of the candidates or Assembly constituencies.
Naidu who was campaigning in the Godavari belt held talks his own party leaders on the unfolding situation. He held a tele-conference with the party leaders to get their feed back.
Naidu’s opposition to Purandeswari’s nomination from Rajampet was linked to the differences with in the NTR family and the old rivalry between Naidu and Purandeswari’s husband Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao. (Both Naidu and Daggubati are son-in-laws of TDP founder NT Rama Rao).
Purandeswari herself was not happy on getting the ticket from Rajampet as she was interested in Visakhaptanam, the seat she had won in 2009 as Congress candidate. Her second choice was Vijayawada but the TDP refused to leave this seat to the BJP.
The BJP fielded its Seemandhra unit president K Hari Babu from Visakhapatanam and was left only with Rajampet to offer her. TDP leaders feel that with Purandeswari as its candidate BJP had little chance of winning the seat especially when she is pitted against a six-time winner A Sai Pratap of Congress.
Naidu was also coming under pressure from with in his own party to change some of the Assembly seats given to the BJP as it was likely to affect the outcome of lok Sabha elections.
The demands were being raised to change BJP’s constituencies like Itchapuram (under Srikakulam lok Sabha constituency), Narsaraopeta (under Narsaraopeta lS constituency), Nellore Assembly constituency, Tadepallygudem and Guntakal by the respective lok Sabha candidates of TDP.
They were worried that BJP’s weak assembly candidates will reduce their chances of victory. Alarmed over the reports of Naidu’s rethinking on the alliance, the BJP rushed its trouble shooter Prakash Javdkar to Hyderabad where he held talks with the TDP intermediaries.
BJP’s senior leader and strategist for Andhra Pradesh M Venakaiah Naidu was also busy in firefighting. He told the reporters in Bengaluru y that alliance was necessary for both the parties and should continue. “Rethinking on alliance at this stage is not good,” he said. “Modi wave will be beneficial for both the parties”, he said.
Meanwhile, film star and founder of Jana Sena party Pawan Kalyan has also become a source of irritant for the alliance of the two parties as he is unhappy with the TDP for not giving Vijayawada lok Sabha ticket to his friend and industrialist P Vara Prasad.
Source in the JSP said that Pawan Kalyan was now thinking of fielding the industrialist and a few other candidates as independent in six or seven lok Sabha constituencies.