BJP eating the humble pie in Andhra Pradesh

It has been in an electoral alliance with the Jana Sena Party, led by film actor Pawan Kalyan, with the hope that the latter's fan following would help in succeeding to some extent in the state where its presence is just over one per cent like the Communist parties.

Visakhapatnam: The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is ruling the roost at the Centre, is forced to eat a humble pie in Andhra Pradesh now.

It has been in an electoral alliance with the Jana Sena Party, led by film actor Pawan Kalyan, with the hope that the latter’s fan following would help in succeeding to some extent in the state where its presence is just over one per cent like the Communist parties. However, the ambitious film actor, who knows that the alliance partner solely depends on him for garnering votes, has announced unilaterally that he would fight the 2024 elections jointly with the Telugu Desam Party, at present the main opposition in the state.

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While taking the decision to sail with the TDP, it is not known whether Pawan Kalyan even cared to inform the BJP although the TDP-JSP friendship was an open secret for the past couple of years. Bent upon dethroning the YSR Congress Party government in Andhra Pradesh at any cost, it did not come as a surprise that he chose to align with the TDP which has nearly a 35 per cent of vote bank in the state. He hopes to increase his own stock from around 10 per cent to 15 per cent which would give the combination a clear edge in the general elections.

The BJP may not be pleased with Pawan Kalyan’s move to join hands with the TDP as the latter had humiliated the BJP during the 2019 general elections in every possible way. But beggars cannot be choosers. The TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu in 2019 toured the entire country along with the political parties opposed to the BJP, urging the people to defeat the Modi government. He did not stop with that. When BJP strongman Amit Shah visited Tirupati during the elections, the TDP activists pelted stones at him and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself visited the state for electioneering, the TDP greeted him with black balloons.

With the elections fast approaching now, the BJP, which eyed the Kapu vote bank favouring Pawan Kalyan, now opted for Daggubati Purndeswari, daughter of late NT Rama Rao, to head the party in Andhra Pradesh, sidelining Somu Veerraju, a longstanding loyal leader. It was Veerraju who was instrumental in roping in the support of Pawan Kalyan since 2014 for which he was rewarded with an MLC seat. The idea to have Purandeswari who is a Kamma, at the helm is only to woo voters from her community which is a strong supporter of the TDP and Chandrababu Naidu. This is perhaps why Purandeswari was among the first to condemn the arrest of Chandrababu, notwithstanding the humiliation he caused to Amit Shah and Narendra Modi in the state. And the BJP high command at the Centre merely is merely watching the tamasha as seems ready to stoop further and join the JSP-TDP alliance on the advice of Pawan Kalyan on the eve of the 2024 polls.

That will virtually leave the BJP at the mercy of the JSP and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, in stark contrast to the Big Brother position it enjoys elsewhere in the country.