BJP demands more seats than Janasena

The suspense over a possible tie-up between the BJP and TDP-JSP alliance in the upcoming assembly and parliament elections, which has been prevailing for so many months now among the political circles of Andhra and Delhi, is likely to end today evening. Amid buzz that the national party is ready to forge an alliance with the TDP-JSP combine, both Nara Chandra Babu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan landed in Delhi on Thursday and held deliberations with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda for nearly two hours till midnight.

As per reliable reports, it is heard that the BJP is demanding 7 MP seats and 10 MLA seats if the TDP-JSP combine wants it to be a part of the alliance. It is a known fact that the Pawan Kalyan-led Janasena settled with 3 MP seats and 24 MLA seats as part of the alliance. So, the BJP seems to be seeking more than double the number of MPs to join the alliance. This appears to be the major stumbling block for consensus between the parties. Giving bigger preference to the BJP won’t augur well for the alliance as it may lead to unnecessary infighting within the alliance. Naidu is wary about it very well. So, he didn’t concede to this demand.

As the BJP is desperately putting efforts to clinch more than 400 seats in the upcoming parliament elections and retain power for the third consecutive term, it is demanding a bigger chunk of seats in all states where it is going to ally with regional parties. But, Chandra Babu Naidu is not willing to allot more than 4 MP seats and 6 MLA seats. Moreover, he is cautious about the potential revolt from Janasena supporters if BJP is given more seats. Another round of talks with the BJP bigwigs will take place today as per sources. It would be interesting to see what share will BJP get in the alliance.

Both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are likely to finalize the deal today in Delhi and an official announcement about the tripartite alliance will be out by evening. The TDP-JSP combine has already announced the the first list of candidates in 99 segments out of the 175 assembly constituencies.

Due to the uncertainty over BJP’s alliance, the second list of candidates has been delayed indefinitely. If a clear emerges by evening, the list is likely to be released in a week.