BJP leadership firm on truck with Telugu Desam Party

The BJP central leadership has reportedly rejected the proposal of Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy to have a tie-up with the TRS and decided to forge an alliance with Telugu Desam Party in both Telangana and Seemandhra regions.

Capping days of negotiations, both BJP and TDP have almost sealed a deal on seat-sharing for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in both the regions on Tuesday and a formal announcement on the alliance, including the seats to be shared is expected on Wednesday.

Seat-sharing

According to the arrangement, the BJP has been allotted 45 Assembly and eight Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and three/four Lok Sabha and 14 Assembly seats in Seemandhra region. However, marathon talks continued between TDP and BJP leaders at the residence of Naresh Gujral, a Rajya Sabha member of Shiromani Akali Dai in Delhi as both the parties remained deadlocked on claims for some seats.

Meanwhile, BJP sources said that top TRS leaders spoke to Mr. Kishan Reddy on Monday and Tuesday and offered to have a tie-up.

However, the BJP central leadership, including the Parliamentary Board, reportedly did not agree with an insistent Mr. Reddy, who wanted the party to forge an alliance with TRS in Telangana.

Kishan Reddy’s contention

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley reportedly told Mr. Reddy that the party was going ahead with TDP as an electoral partner in both the regions and that an alliance with TRS would affect the party’s chances in Seemandhra.

It is learnt that Mr. Reddy also maintained that BJP could be part of the government if it allied with the TRS in case the latter came to power in the Assembly elections.

KTR clarifies

However, TRS leader K.T. Rama Rao denied that the party had approached the BJP for an alliance.

Although the BJP Seemandhra unit was seeking at least 20 Assembly and six Lok Sabha seats, the TDP leadership was reportedly firm on not giving more Assembly seats, though a few extra Lok Sabha might be considered.

The Lok Sabha seats to be allotted for BJP Telangana are Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Bhongir, Karimnagar and a reserved seat--either Warangal or Mahabubabad.

In Seemandhra, the BJP is keen on Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Narsapur or Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Hindupur and Vijayawada Lok Sabha seats.