VIJAYAWADA: In a decisive political breakthrough following the official notification of the local body election schedule by the State Election Commission, the ruling NDA coalition partners—the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—have formally resolved core internal seat-sharing negotiations and resolved to contest the upcoming municipal elections as a single, unified entity without friendly contests.
The consensus was finalised during high-level coordination deliberations chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at his residence, attended by key JSP leadership and state BJP representatives.
Addressing media representatives following the meeting, Tadepallegudem JSP MLA Bolisetti Srinivas and MLA Vamsi Krishna confirmed that seat distribution was determined through exhaustive field assessments focused on candidate’s winning prospects, ground-level political dynamics, and mutual cadre alignment across urban local bodies, rather than rigid percentage formulas or numerical quotas. Emphasising that candidate selection respects the sentiments of ground-level party workers to maintain coalition harmony, the leaders stated that a joint NDA candidate list will be officially released within one or two days.
Ruling out friendly contests across all municipalities and municipal corporations, the JSP leaders asserted that the alliance’s single-minded objective is to present a cohesive electoral front to secure a decisive victory over the opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
Responding to queries regarding the finalisation of seats across urban local bodies, Jana Sena Party (JSP) leaders reiterated that the comprehensive candidate framework is being finalized by the joint NDA leadership.
Sidestepping questions about an apparent shift from earlier demands for a fixed seat percentage in the elections, Janasena Party (JSP) leaders refuted claims of demanding specific quotas or numerical ratios, maintaining that the party only insisted on an allocation that improves upon its share in the 2024 general elections while safeguarding cadre morale.