Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan hold talks on seat-sharing

The two leaders had a detailed discussion for nearly three hours at Naidu's residence at Undavalli here and are reported to have reached a broad understanding over the seats to be contested by the two parties

Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan on Sunday held talks on seat-sharing for forthcoming elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha.

The two leaders had a detailed discussion for nearly three hours at Naidu’s residence at Undavalli here and are reported to have reached a broad understanding over the seats to be contested by the two parties. Both the TDP and the Jana Sena have not released any statement about the outcome of the meeting.

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However, Pawan Kalyan reportedly told a meeting of Jana Sena leaders that there will be issues in alliance but they were determined to overcome them to get rid of YSR Congress Party government. Both the leaders are understood to have discussed the joint manifesto and the issues to be raised during the election campaign.

The Jana Sena is looking for a good chunk of seats in undivided Godavari and Krishna districts as the party is believed to have a strong presence there. On January 26, Pawan Kalyan announced that Jana Sena will contest Razole and Rajanagaram Assembly seats. His action came after the TDP announced candidates for Mandapeta and Araku seats.

The actor politician found fault with the TDP for unilaterally announcing candidates for two seats even before the seat-sharing agreement and remarked that the TDP violated the principles of alliance. He hinted that his Jana Sena will contest one-third of the seats as part of the alliance.

Elections to the 175-member Assembly are slated to be held along with Lok Sabha polls in April-May. Razole was the only Assembly seat won by Jana Sena in the 2019 elections. However, its MLA R. Vara Prasada Rao had later defected to the YSRCP.

It was in September last year that Pawan Kalyan after meeting Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail had announced that Jana Sena will have an electoral alliance with the TDP for the forthcoming elections to throw YSR Congress Party out of power. Meanwhile, Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Balashwory joined Jana Sena in the presence of Pawan Kalyan on Sunday.

Balashowry resigned from the YSRCP last month after it became clear that he will not get a ticket to contest Lok Sabha or Assembly elections. In 2019, YSRCP had bagged 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly and won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats.