Naidu, Pawan camp in Delhi for seat talks with BJP

New Delhi: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan continue to camp in Delhi to finalise seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP.

After their meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, TDP is learnt to have offered to seal the deal by giving 5-6 seats to BJP in the Lok Sabha and around 10-11 seats in the Assembly seats. 

The BJP had asked for 10 seats for Lok Sabha and TDP was offering 4-5 seats. Jana Sena, which is in alliance with the TDP, may get 3 LS seats out of 25 in the state.

TDP leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Ravindra Kumar said on principle, the three parties will now contest the upcoming polls together. “In principle the BJP, TDP and Jana Sena have decided to work together,” he said.

An another round of discussions could be held to sort out any differences and finalise the arrangements. 

This will mean that the TDP is returning to the NDA’s fold six years after it walked out owing to differences over the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. 

For the BJP, the alliance could help it get an entry into the Telugu heartland, which is crucial for it as it chases 370 seats in the 2024 LS polls. The TDP is looking to break YS Jagan’s hold over the state, especially when his party had been seen as close to the BJP.