After more than a week of protracted negotiations, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it was only a matter of time before it announces an electoral alliance with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. Assembly elections are scheduled in the State simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
Claiming that discussions with the TDP so far have been ‘good’, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, who is also in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, said talks between the two parties were still going on and the final outcome will be announced “soon.’’
He compared electoral alliance to a marriage which “either happens 100% or does not.’’ Denying any “hitch or stumbling block’’ in sorting out the alliance, the BJP leader said negotiations became long drawn as they were considering the “win-ability’’ factor for all the seats – be it the Assembly or the Lok Sabha.
However, party sources said differences had cropped up at the local level between the two parties over the number of seats each one of them wants to contest. The BJP’s central leadership is said to be keen to seal a poll pact with the TDP in the spirit of ‘give and take and mutual respect’. The BJP brass is looking at the TDP as a potential ‘pre-poll’ partner.
“Our presence in Andhra Pradesh is marginal. We hope to gain in both Telangana and Seemandhra if we seal a pact with the TDP. We also expect the TDP to earmark a respectable number of Assembly as well as Lok Sabha seats for us,’’ a senior BJP leader told The Hindu .
Indications are that the TDP might agree to offer 40-45 Assembly and eight Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and four Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly seats in Seemandhra. The BJP is learnt to be keen on contesting on 5 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra and a total of 70 Assembly seats in Telangana and Seemandhra.
