VIJAYAWADA: BJP national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, are likely to address at least five massive public meetings in the run-up to the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly in the State. The meetings will be held irrespective of whether the BJP aligns with the TDP-JSP combine or not.
According to sources, apart from Modi and Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, are likely to address the meetings apart from the electioneering by the Chief Ministers of other States, including Yogi Adityanath and a host of Union Ministers.
The BJP has formed five clusters with five each Lok Sabha constituencies, besides appointing an incharge and co-incharge to strengthen the party at the grassroot level. “Cluster-wise meetings will be addressed by the BJP national leaders,” the sources revealed.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders are hopeful of getting a clarity on alliance after the national council meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 17 and 18. Nearly 200 BJP leaders from Andhra Pradesh have gone to Delhi to attend the meeting, sources said.
It is unlikely to discuss alliance in AP as leaders from across the nation will be attending it. “We are expecting that we will meet the national leaders and hold talks on alliance, but a decision will not be taken in the meeting. It is the Parliamentary Board, which takes the final call,’’ a senior BJP leader said.
“The meeting will basically discuss how to take the development initiatives of the NDA government to the masses effectively,’’ he said. The party leaders, however, are of the view that the BJP’s stand on electoral alliances may be made clear in Delhi meeting.
The BJP leadership is likely to hold another round of talks with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan before taking a final decision on joining the TDP-JSP combine. The BJP is likely to demand a minimum of 20 Assembly seats and six to seven Lok Sabha seats if it joins the alliance, the sources added.