TDP Returns to NDA Fold As it Seals Alliance with BJP and Jana Sena for Lok Sabha, Assembly Polls

In a joint statement, the three parties said that their coming together with the two parties will ‘help in reaching the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh.’

‘The BJP and TDP have a very old relationship together. TDP joined NDA in 1996 and has worked together successfully in Atal Ji’s and Narendra Modi Ji’ government. In 2014, the TDP and the BJP fought the Lok Sabha election and assembly election together. The JSP had supported the 2014 general and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh,’ the statement said.

While an alliance has been sealed, seat-sharing arrangements are yet to be formally announced. The BJP said that the modalities will be deliberated in a day or two.

Addressing reporters after the alliance was sealed, Naidu said that it will be a sweep in Andhra Pradesh, reported Press Trust of India.

‘Andhra Pradesh has been destroyed badly. The BJP and the TDP coming together is a win-win situation for the country and the state,’ he said.

The announcement came after the second round of talks between Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, Naidu and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan.

The TDP had pulled out of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in 2018 in the wake of the Modi government’s refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Subsequently, the TDP launched a ‘dharma poratam’ or ‘fight for justice’ and also moved a no-confidence motion against the NDA government. Labelling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘terrorist’, Naidu also accused him of ‘estranging’ his wife.

In February 2019, Union home minister Amit Shah had declared that the doors of the NDA were permanently closed for Naidu, who he labelled as a ‘u-turn CM’.

Subsequently, however, the TDP faced an unprecedented rout in the 2019 elections, when he was ousted by now chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party.

Naidu has since been more than willing to return to the NDA, who met Shah for the first time in five years in June 2023.

It has also allied with the Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena, which is a part of the NDA.

Kalyan had announced the alliance in September after meeting Naidu in jail, when he was incarcerated in connection with the skill development scam.

Kalyan had then announced that the two had come together after discussing the political climate in the state and the alleged vindictive politics of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s administration.

In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP won 22 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh 2019 on an anti-Union election plank. It also won 151 of the 175 assembly seats.