Hyderabad, Telugu Desam team (TDP) Chief Chandrababu Naidu and Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan of Janasena Party (JSP) Held closed session on sundayA fresh round of speculation has started in political circles about the growing rapprochement and possible alliance in the 2024 assembly elections.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders in the last few months to express “solidarity” with each other in the fight against the alleged autocratic actions of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. JSP is in alliance with BJP since the beginning of 2020.
Kalyan and Naidu met at Naidu’s residence in Hyderabad on Sunday. According to the parties, Kalyan went to pledge their support to fight unitedly against the government order banning public meetings and gatherings on the streets issued last week. order was Cited Last month’s incident where 8 people died allegedly at Naidu’s public meeting in Nellore district.
The first target of the government order, however indirectly, was Naidu, when the police restricted gatherings in his constituency kuppam, which led to a clash between TDP leaders and Police,
Last week, Naidu did written to the state’s Director General of Police, accusing the force of “autocratic” behavior and claiming that he had sought permission to visit the Kuppam constituency but was denied on the basis of a government order.
After the meeting, Naidu and Kalyan told reporters that there was no discussion on such electoral alliances, but they did discuss how to form a joint platform, ‘Prajaswamy Pariksha Vedika’, to protect the state’s democracy. And fight against it “together”. “Undemocratic” policies of the ruling YSRCP.
He said, ‘There was no concrete discussion on any electoral alliance, there is still time for that. As far as some issues are concerned, Pawan Kalyan is willing to work with our party and the same was conveyed to our chief earlier also. Both the leaders are on the same wavelength and the party cadre at the grassroots level is already working together,” a senior TDP leader told ThePrint on condition of anonymity. Jagan Govt.
The BJP has never been in favor of the TDP-JSP alliance and party leaders have indicated this on several occasions. The TDP, which was part of the National Democratic Alliance, pulled out ahead of the 2019 assembly elections over not being given Andhra. special category status.
A few weeks after the Kalyan-Naidu first meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Kalyan during his visit to Visakhapatnam in November last year. After the closed-door meeting, Kalyan, without delving into the matter, simply said that the discussion was on the political situation in the state.
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‘Hint towards alliance’
Political analyst Nageswara Rao said that both the parties are trying to give a message to the people and their workers through these meetings that they will forge an alliance.
According to sources, the meeting between the leaders lasted for more than two hours on Sunday.
“Expressing solidarity will not take 2 hours, it is just 5 minutes work. Obviously they have discussed politics. What I understand from this meeting is that both the parties have agreed for an alliance. Unless there are some unavoidable circumstances, the parties will run together… Two political leaders do not meet without any reason or discuss any concrete politics,” Rao said.
,TDP and JSP were together in 2014, they parted ways during the 2019 elections. However, if they want to join hands again in 2024, they need to give a proper reason to the people. So they want to create an impression in the minds of people that they are not joining hands for selfishness, but to fight a united fight against Jagan’s regime (which they call ‘autocratic’) and it will eventually become an alliance , ” she added.
These meetings are also a message to the party cadre that the parties will work together and bring a new coordination between leadersRao claimed.
Naidu’s stand on alliance has never been firm. It has always been based on the political situation at the time of the election. The TDP chief had also hinted to his party leaders in the past that the party would have to make some sacrifices to come to power, indirectly hinting at the need for seat-sharing with other parties.
“Our CM Jagan has to understand that he is creating a platform (through his autocratic rule) for opposition parties to come together. If this is true then they should not be surprised.
Kalyan and Naidu had earlier Had a meeting In October last year, Kalyan was confined to a hotel room in Visakhapatnam by the police and barred from conducting a public grievance programme. The police had then said that they had acted on complaints of “attacks” by JSP workers on leaders and ministers of the ruling party.
Naidu had then met Kalyan and expressed solidarity.
“It is clear to the grassroot level workers that both the parties are working together. In fact, we were surprised to see Jana Sena workers attending our party’s rally in Nandigama recently, declaring support for us, declaring support for us, said another TDP leader.
The power of ‘Kamma-Kapu’ communities
The Naidu-Kalyan alliance, if it materialises, would be a powerful ‘Kamma-Kapu’ alliance. Naidu comes from the socially dominant Kamma community and the group runs after him. However, the same cannot be said for Kalyan, who is the Kapu leader. The Kapu community has always been divided when it comes to supporting any one party.
The Kapu community, which includes Balija, Telaga etc., is formed about 24 percent Andhra’s population as per the last census, is the reason why it is a major vote bank for every party including the ruling YSRCP. Kapu are demanding That they should be included in the backward class community of the state.
Though the Kapus have been largely Congress supporters, there has been a consolidation of their votes since at least 2009, when Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi launched his political party. Kalyan is the younger brother of Chiranjeevi.
However, Kalyan has had an unsuccessful journey so far. He lost both the seats Contested In 2019.
While Naidu may gain a share of the Kapu votes by adding Kalyan, for the latter an alliance with a relatively stronger party like the TDP may yield some minimal gains.
Now the question is whether BJP will be with this TDP-JSP alliance, and whether it will be TDP-BJP-JSP alliance or just TDP-JSP alliance in 2024.
“We have no major objection to working with the BJP, but that party will have to prove itself to the people of Andhra,” he said. They are still not taking a tough stand on the issues in the state. One the TDP leader said.
,Edited by Githalakshmi Ramanathan)
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