Hyderabad: Responding to the alliance between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, Owaisi remarked that N Chandrababu Naidu had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past but the BJP is “serving him tea now.”
“But the BJP alleges that I support terrorists,” he added.
On AIMIM contesting in Andhra, Owaisi said that the party hasn’t decided on the subject, yet.
On extending support to YSRCP chief and Andhra chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Owaisi called him his “friend,” adding that “Jagan does his work and I do mine.”
He remarked that minorities of AP like Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Adivasis have “no option now” and they would play a “decisive role now” as Naidu joined hands with the BJP.
“What I am saying is that Mr Naidu was with the BJP and when I was an MLA, he supported Vajpayee also. So, he has been consistently playing footsie with the BJP. He supported Narendra Modi to be the Prime Minister in 2014. When he left Narendra Modi, he called him a terrorist. Now, he has again rejoined the BJP,” he said.
Naidu had called the Prime Minister a “hardcore terrorist” in 2019 after both parties dissolved their alliance over the row over the demand for a Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.
Seat sharing
Andhra Pradesh NDA partners finalised their seat-sharing formula for the Lok Sabha and state polls following a marathon discussion on Monday, under which the BJP will contest six Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats while the TDP will fight 17 parliamentary and 144 state seats.
Under the deal, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 assembly seats, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu announced after the meeting.
Senior BJP leader and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat went into a huddle with TDP supremo Naidu and Jana Sena chief Kalyan in Amaravati to finalise seat-sharing for the upcoming Parliamentary and Assembly elections.
“In Amaravati today, the BJP, TDP and JSP (Janasena) forged a formidable seat-sharing formula. With this significant step, the people of Andhra Pradesh now stand on the threshold of reclaiming our state and paving the way for a brighter future. I humbly call upon my people of Andhra Pradesh to shower their blessings upon this alliance, and grant us a historic mandate to serve them,” said Naidu in a post on X.
The state has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats.
JanaSena was initially supposed to contest 24 assembly and three Lok Sabha seats, but in the seat-sharing formula, it got 21 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats after the TDP joined the NDA alliance recently.
The 2024 polls will be the first time the three parties are contesting the polls together. Back in 2014, when TDP and BJP fought the polls together, JanaSena was their outside ally.
The TDP and Jana Sena have announced the names of 100 candidates already, and Naidu said the respective parties will name other candidates soon.
According to the TDP supremo, the Monday brainstorming exercise sought to forge a formidable combination of seats for every alliance partner that truly represents the people of Andhra Pradesh and their aspirations.
Meanwhile, TDP sources said that the state’s opposition party have invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend an election meeting which could take place between March 17 and 20.
“We have invited Modi for the meeting, mostly he will come for the meeting, date is not yet finalised. We proposed March 17 but a day here and there, mostly Modi will be there. Between March 17 and 20 it will happen. That will be a good way to kick off the campaign. Modi, Naidu, Pawan, all together,” the sources added.
Another TDP source emphasised that if Modi participates in this meeting, it could be the first time in a decade that Modi, Naidu and Kalyan would be sharing the stage.
(With excerpts from PTI)
