BJP rushes Javadekar on troubleshooting mission

His task is to nudge the reluctant ‘T’ leaders into accepting TDP as a poll partner

Eager to wrap up an alliance with the TDP for the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in both Telanagna and Seemandhra regions, the BJP’s national leadership has rushed senior leader Prakash Javadekar to iron out differences and convince a reluctant State BJP president G. Kishan Reddy and a few others to fall in line.

While there has been no major issue for the party’s move to enter into an alliance with the TDP in Seemandhra, Mr. Reddy and some of the younger leaders from Telangana have not been receptive to the central party’s idea for such a tie-up. They want the party to contest all the 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats on its own as part of a long-term strategy to strengthen the base in the region.

Meets Kishan, Haribabu

But many senior leaders from Telangana favour an alliance with the TDP on the ground that it would help the party improve its performance in places where it is weak. Soon after his arrival here, Mr. Javadekar had a meeting with a top RSS functionary from Telangana at the RSS office here. He later confabulated separately with Seemandhra BJP president K. Hari Babu and Mr. Kishan Reddy at the State BJP office.

Although for the record, he maintained that he came here to take stock of the election preparedness of the party and review the candidate selection, his mission apparently was to nudge the reluctant leaders into accepting TDP as a poll partner. An announcement on the alliance could be expected in the next few days, BJP sources said.

Constituencies on radar

It is learnt that the BJP will be seeking at least 50 Assembly and eight Lok Sabha seats once the tie-up is firmed up. The party is eyeing Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Bhongir, Hyderabad and a reserved seat. Although Malkajgiri was also on its radar, it might part with the seat if the TDP insists.

A senior Telangana leader quoting latest survey results of a national news channel said if BJP and TDP joined hands, the combined vote share would increase to 23 per cent (BJP 15 per cent and TDP eight per cent), against 25 per cent of Congress. In seats like Khammam, Nalgonda, Mahbubnangar, Chevella and Malkajgiri an understanding with the TDP would benefit BJP in the long run, he added.