The Bharatiya Janata Party which has announced an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party for the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh is creating an embarrassing situation for TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu.
The BJP is said to be demanding the seats, particularly the Lok Sabha seats, where the TDP is strong and has fair chances of winning.
Though the saffron party is yet to announce the seats it is planning to contest, its leaders are disclosing their mind, much to the chagrin of Naidu.
On Monday, former Rajya Sabha member C M Ramesh said he is interested in contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Visakhapatnam.
“I have put forth the proposal before the party high command. It is for the party to decide,” he said.
Ramesh, however, said if it was not possible for contesting from Visakhapatnam for any reason, including alliance compulsions and caste equations, he was ready to contest from whichever seat the party decides.
The BJP is asking for Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, as the party had represented it in the past twice. However, this time, the TDP has grown strong here and is keen on contesting from there.
Another seat the BJP is eyeing is Vijayawada, which is also a TDP stronghold.
Though sitting TDP MP Kesineni Nani switched over to the YSR Congress party and is named as the party candidate for the coming elections, the TDP has indicated that Nani’s brother Kesineni Chinni would be contesting from there.
However, industrialist-turned-politician Potluri Vara Prasad, better known as PVP, has also thrown his hat in the ring for Vijayawada seat.
PVP, who contested on YSRCP ticket and lost the elections to Kesineni Nani in 2019, is eyeing the seat this time on BJP ticket.
On Saturday, he gave clear indications that he would be shifting loyalties to the BJP by making changes in his social media accounts.
He claimed himself to be part of Modi Ka Parivar and showered praises on the Prime Minister and Amit Shah. He is also asking for the BJP ticket for Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat, sources said.
It remains to be seen how the TDP chief will respond to these demands.