Waiting for BJP, Naidu-Pawan Kalyan alliance faces turbulence: seat-sharing delay to vote transfer concern

Actor-turned-politician and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday said he has pleaded with the BJP central leaders to formalise the alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-JSP combine in Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and that such efforts have caused him a lot of mental agony.

With barely one-and-a-half months to go for the polls, Kalyan’s agony may last longer as the BJP is yet to take a call on the alliance. What seems to be more troubling for him is the JSP’s uneasy tie-up with the N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, which was formally announced in September last year, when Naidu was in jail in connection with the alleged Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation scam.

The leaders of both allies have since skipped coordination committee meetings, and even resorted to fist fights. Both parties also unilaterally announced two Assembly poll candidates each.

On January 26, Kalyan alleged Naidu “did not follow coalition dharma” when the TDP chief announced candidates for the Mandapeta and Araku Assembly seats without consulting the JSP. He then also announced that his party would contest the Razole and Rajanagaram Assembly seats.

While both Naidu and Kalyan have called their alliance the “need of the hour in the interest of the state”, sources said the seat-sharing between their parties is getting trickier, especially in the two Godavari districts – East and West.

According to sources, there are about 20 Assembly constituencies where the two parties are struggling to reach a consensus. These seats include Rajahmundry Rural, Gannavaram, Pithapuram, Kakinada Rural, Eluru and Tadepalligudem.

JSP leaders claim that the Godavari districts are their strongholds and