VIJAYAWADA: Even as the TDP joined the bandwagon of the NDA at the Central level and also the BJP trucking with the TDP-JSP combine in Andhra Pradesh to take on the ruling YSRC in the ensuing elections was welcomed by the TDP leadership, a section of leaders, however, is apprehensive that the TDP, which is gradually building the vote bank of minorities after snapping ties with the BJP in 2018, may lose their confidence because of the pact.
They are of the view that the TDP’s poll alliance with the BJP may hamper the party prospects in some of the constituencies in the Rayalaseema region, where the Muslim population is high. There are also some segments in the Guntur, Krishna and Nellore districts, where the minority voters are in a position to change the electoral fortunes of contestants. The tie-up with the BJP may cause some breach in the votes of minorities for the TDP in the elections, a TDP leader felt.
Admitting that the BJP does not have considerable vote share in the State and it was less than 1% in the 2019 elections, a senior leader from Rayalaseema told TNIE that despite knowing the fact the TDP leadership opted for alliance with the saffron party for other reasons like election management, deployment of Central forces to prevent the ruling YSRC from misusing the State police.
Recalling that the party suffered drubbing in the 2019 elections because of the enmity with the BJP and the Central agencies targeting the TDP leaders at the time of polls, another leader felt that the party funders and leaders may not have such pressure from the Central agencies this time because of the alliance with the BJP.
However, several TDP leaders welcomed the pact with the BJP. They felt that as the BJP will form the government again at the Centre, the interests of AP will be protected.
Asserting that the TDP, BJP and JSP are joining forces to bring AP back on the growth track, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh said this is a significant moment for the State, which has suffered and lived through its darkest phase in history over the last five years. History will record this alliance as a turning point, a necessity that positively transform the State and the lives of the people of AP, he said in a post on X.