‘Both TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s JSP agree that if they have to protect their interests, coming together would benefit both’.
NEW DELHI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, is currently in the process of readying itself for negotiations for a seat-sharing formula with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP).
Leaders within the party say that there is a need for an alliance in order to come up with better numbers in the coming Assembly elections next year against the ruling YSRCP led by Jaggan Mohan Reddy who currently holds more than 150 MLAs out of 175 Assembly seats in the state. However, sources claim, there have been no talks between the leadership till now.
A senior Telugu Desam Party leader close to the decision-making circle of the party told The Sunday Guardian, “We are willing to give 25 to 30 seats to Pawan Kalyan. That is all we have for them currently. If we concede more, it will be as if we have accepted their upper hand, and such an acceptance will diminish the role of our party. We are a much bigger party than his (Pawan Kalyan’s). But yes, surely there will be negotiations and we will try to reach a conclusion that is profitable for both.”
However, the buzz in the Kalyan camp is that he is seeking more than 50 seats. And by this the party is expecting to get seats in Kapu dominated areas.
Kapus is the most populous caste in Andhra Pradesh with more than 21% population share. However, both the parties agree that if they have to protect their political interests, coming together would be beneficial for both, as contesting the elections separately will divide opposition votes which will let the ruling party triumph in the elections easily.
TDP leaders also claim that there are less chances for the BJP to come into the fold and the party leadership has sensed caution over its impending association with the saffron party and doesn’t want to take any chance by going with the saffron party.
“Thus it will most probably be JSP and TDP only,” a TDP leader said.
Moreover, recently, BJP MLC P.V.N. Madhav lashed out at Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan for ignoring alliance dharma and accused him of not cooperating with the BJP.
Highlighting the lack of support from the JSP cadre at the field level, he said, “We requested for his cooperation in the recent MLC elections, but there has been no response. The alliance seems to be namesake as JSP is not taking part in any of the programmes organised by BJP.”
Coming back to seat sharing formulae, the JSP is expected to get seats where Kapus are in dominant numbers. Kapus are believed to have strong caste loyalty and hold key in around 38 seats.
They further play a decisive role in another 35 seats. In the last Assembly elections in 2019, JSP and Telugu Desam Party had a vote share of 5.5% and 39% respectively. Political analysts, going by the current trends, claim that even if both the parties come together, it will be difficult for them to emerge victorious or even come close to magic numbers.
A political consultant in the state said, “The BJP’s cadre is not that strong and their seat share will be limited to less than 3 seats, which they are not sure if they can win. So there are less chances that they would want to continue with the alliance.”