Hyderabad: There is every possibility of the Telugu Desam and the BJP striking a pre-poll alliance as leaders of both parties on Saturday met for talks.
Though not for the first time, TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who went to Bhopal on Saturday to attend BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s swearing-in-ceremony, had one-on-one meetings with the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and other top leaders, including L.K. Advani and party presidnet Rajnath Singh.
Naidu, a key ally of the NDA during its 1998-2004 regime, not only shared a common dais at the ceremony, but also mingled with BJP leaders to send out a political message that he would be their electoral partner in Andhra Pradesh.
“There is nothing like a permanent enemy or friend in politics, both of us are antiCongress; as far as electoral understanding is concerned it is too early now, but things will definitely move in that direction,” a top BJP leader told this newspaper.
Naidu had earlier shared a dais with Modi in New Delhi and held talks.
Interestingly it was Naidu, while he was in the NDA, who had objected to the continuance of Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister after the Gujarat communal riots. He had even refused to field his nominee for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post in protest.
Naidu had also accused the BJP to be communal after it lost power in 2004 and had announced snapping of ties with BJP.
“Now things are changed, TD is against Congress, and Narendra Modi is on a mission to unseat the UPA to establish NDA, anti-Congress-ism is the bonding now,” said a leader who accompanied Naidu to Bhopal.
For the record, Naidu had not denied the chances of his party tying up with the BJP after meeting Mr Narendra Modi in Delhi. He had only said “nothing has been decided”.
It was earlier reported that YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy too had plans to support the BJP-led NDA in the 2014 postpoll scenario. He had told his party leaders that he was not interested in forging prepoll alliances with any party but would be “open” to giving support to any formation in the post-poll scene.
A BJP national leader on condition of anonymity said, “Jaganmohan Reddy recently met Rajnath Singh in Parliament Central Hall and offered 23 Lok Sabha seats if they support the United AP cause.”
