A much-expected announcement on a possible tie-up between the TDP-JSP alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not forthcoming at the ‘Jenda’ joint meeting of party chiefs N. Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan at Tadepalligudem on Wednesday, much to the chagrin of the cadres in attendance at the venue.
Also conspicuous was the absence of any mention of the joint manifesto of both parties for the election, or any announcement of major sops or freebies.
The TDP and JSP had on February 24 jointly released the first list of 118 candidates (94 from the TDP and 24 from JSP) for the Assembly elections, out of the total of 175 constituencies in the State. While the TDP announced the names of candidates for all 94 seats, the JSP only disclosed five names out of the 24 candidates.
An announcement is yet to be made on the seat-sharing for the remaining 57 Assembly constituencies. Mr. Kalyan, while announcing the list, had merely said that he did not press for a larger number of seats in order to accommodate the BJP if it joined the alliance.
“We will release the common manifesto in couple of days,” Mr. Naidu said, without elaborating further.
The TDP-JSP combine had finalised a mini-manifesto, comprising 11 promises, in November 2023 after the first meeting of their six-member joint manifesto committee. The mini-manifesto is an amalgam of the TDP’s ‘Super Six schemes’ announced at its annual Mahanadu-2023 conclave, and five points suggested by the JSP on the basis of feedback received by Mr. Kalyan during his public interactions.
The TDP-JSP leaders have been reiterating that the common manifesto would contain a host of sops for all sections of the society.
The ‘Jenda’ public meeting was meant to give a concrete direction to the cadres of both parties, particularly after the announcement of the seat-sharing and perceived dissatisfaction among the cadres.
