After forging the alliance following protracted negotiations, the BJP and Telugu Desam will now have to focus on converting their electoral partnership into a “winning combination”, a tough task, given the resentment in a section of the Telangana BJP unit and a similar feeling among some of the Seemandhra TDP cadre.
While Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy admitted that there was some dissatisfaction over seat-sharing, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu appealed to the leaders of both the parties to “work together” in the interest of the country.
Like a section of Telangana BJP leaders, who feel that joining hands with TDP would harm the party’s chances, some Seemandhra TDP leaders say that allying with BJP would have a negative impact as that party was one of the main proponents of bifurcation. Meanwhile, the resignation of Warangal district BJP unit president E. Ashok Reddy and protests by TDP cadres in different places in Seemandhra on Sunday were indicative of the difficult situation ahead for both the parties. Mr. Ashok Reddy maintained that he sent in his resignation as he was anguished with the tie-up.
“Right now, we are treating TDP candidates as our rivals in ZPTC and MPTC elections. How can we work together once they get over on April 11,” he asked.
According to BJP sources, Mr. Kishan Reddy was miffed that the BJP got at least 18-20 of the 47 Assembly seats that were considered as “losing ones”. The party was not allotted “winning seats” in different districts and in the city. The Assembly seats which the BJP wanted include Qutbullapur, Sherlingampally, L.B. Nagar, Maheshwaram, Chevella, Rajendranagar, Narayanpet, Makthal, Patancheru, Bodhan and Balkonda.
Apart from 62 Assembly seats in both the regions, the BJP was given Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Bhongir, Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal (SC) and Medak Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. Those in Seemandhra are Visakhaptnam, Rajampet, Tirupati (SC), Ongole and Narsapur LS seats.
