As the stalemate in the talks between the Telugu Desam and the BJP over allocation of seats in Telangana continues, anxiety levels are shooting up among the TDP aspirants over their prospects of securing a party ticket.
The talks between the two parties reached a deadlock after the BJP staked claim for nine Lok Sabha and little over 60 Assembly constituencies, constituting almost 50 per cent seats in Telangana. The TDP is refusing to concede more than six Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly seats to the saffron party.
The TDP leaders are claiming that they have decided to accommodate the BJP giving more seats in Lok Sabha as the voting pattern for the two elections is likely to be different.
“We are prepared for around 25 seats, but not more. Conceding more seats will mean the TDP aspirants will be given a raw deal,” an office-bearer of the newly-constituted TDP Telangana election committee told The Hindu .
These leaders are tight-lipped when asked about the possible number of seats that TDP can offer so that an agreement could be reached. The leaders are wary about the experience they had when the party went to elections in 2009 in alliance with the TRS conceding more than 40 seats of which the TRS won only 10.
The TDP leaders are piqued over the BJP leadership’s posturing on the talks claiming “they are behaving as if the BJP is giving seats to the TDP.”
Though these leaders are not against truck with the BJP, they want the saffron party to evaluate their party’s ground level situation before staking claim for the number of seats they intend to contest.
Leaders involved in the talks with BJP leaders are not willing to buy the argument that the BJP should get more seats as it’s popularity is on the rise in Telangana following the State’s bifurcation. The popularity they are claiming is in thin air and it can never translate into votes.
“We want the BJP leadership to come up with the real picture assessing whether it is in a position to at least field strong candidates if the seats are given,” a senior leader said.
The TDP leadership has asked the BJP to come up with their winning strategy, if at all there is one, as also the list of candidates it proposes to field before going ahead with the talks.
