Amid BJD ‘Ghar Wapsi’ Speculation, BJP Set for Another ‘Big Deal’. This Time It’s Andhra Pradesh – News18

In the run up to ‘Mission 400‘ for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to seal another alliance. This time it’s likely to be in Andhra Pradesh.

Sources told News18 that Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party chief) is arriving in Delhi late on Thursday evening, while Pawan Kalyan (JanaSena Party chief) is also likely to be in the national capital.

The BJP, TDP and JanaSena are expected to hold a late night meeting for the “big Andhra Pradesh NDA alliance”.

The BJP has asked for 30 seats in the Assembly and seven seats in Lok Sabha from Andhra, including one or two for Pawan Kalyan, sources added.

BJP has been aggressively trying to make inroads in the south where the saffron party’s presence, except in Karnataka, has not been up to the mark.

Of the 127 seats in five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Telangana and Union Territory Lakshadweep, the BJP could win only 29 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Of these, 25 came from Karnataka and four from Telangana. The party drew a blank in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

A report in Mint quoted its sources as saying that the BJP’s key focus will be 84 seats in South India, declared ‘weak’ category seats that the party has never won.

The report also quoted analysts as saying that the number is crucial if the party has to achieve its target of 370 seats for the BJP and 400 + for the NDA.

The latest information from Andhra Pradesh comes amid speculations of the BJP trying to forge an alliance with Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha. The talks between the two parties are reportedly in final stage, with only a formal announcement awaited.

If that happens, the BJD will return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold 15 years after it broke off its ties in 2009 following the Kandhamal riots in 2008.