Bharatiya Janata Party, which was a pariah till recently, is now being looked up to by YSR Congress Party as well the Telugu Desam with the saffron party set to play a crucial role when the AP Reorganisation Bill is taken up for consideration in Parliament in the coming days.
In the last few days, YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy met top BJP leaders -- he called on veteran leader L.K. Advani on Wednesday and confabulated with BJP national president Rajnath Singh on Friday.
He sought the support of both the leaders in opposing the manner in which the Centre was proceeding with bifurcation of the State even in the absence of an Assembly resolution.
Although Mr. Jagan for the record was believed to have pressed his case against State’s division, his interactions with top BJP leaders were being viewed in political circles as an attempt to explore the possibility of post-election tie-up in the event of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power.
Asked about such a possibility, a top YSR Congress leader said Mr. Jagan had already declared at a public meeting in Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad that he was willing to extend support to any party which would keep the State united.
Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu too has begun building bridges with the BJP and met its Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi on quite a few occasions in the recent past with the latest being on Sunday when he interacted with him at Chandigarh airport.
While it was described as a “courtesy meeting” by a senior TDP functionary, the frequent meetings of Mr. Naidu seem to suggest that his party was gearing to become a key NDA ally in the post-election scenario.
AllianceAn alliance between the two parties would be considered only if the State remained united and not in the event of bifurcation, remarked the TDP leader. He said both the parties would gain significantly if an alliance was stitched in a united State. However, this view was contrasted by a BJP leader, who maintained that both the parties would benefit if they joined hands even if the State was divided because of “Modi impact”.
