THREE IS COMPANY

A tight fight is on the cards with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the BJP readying for a joint assault on the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in the parliamentary and assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh.

- Amarnath K. Menon

For the 73-year-old N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has headed the TDP for three decades and has been chief minister longer than anyone, the 2024 polls, by own admission, will be his last. Sensing that the TDP may not be able to triumph on its own, Naidu has joined a tripartite alliance. On March 9, it finally reached an agreement on contesting the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with six seats to the BJP and two to the JSP (the stalemate was

broken after two rounds of talks with JSP founder and actor Pawan Kalyan conceding a seat to the saffron party in the interests of a combined fight).

For the assembly election happening alongside, the TDP will contest 144 seats, JSP 21 and the BJP 10 in the 175-member house. Calling it a win-win scenario, Naidu forecasts a clean sweep for the alliance. The TDP has, over the past two years, been keen to position itself alongside the BJP as a check on the ruling YSRCP. This, despite suspicions that the YSRCP has had the covert blessings of the saffron party for the past five years.