In Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party has an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the May 13 assembly and Lok Sabha elections and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu has been speaking high about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But in Telangana, the TDP has been silent on supporting the BJP. The party stayed away from the last assembly elections held on November 30 and even now, the TDP is not contesting the Lok Sabha elections, at least for record.
All said and done, the TDP still has some vote bank in Telangana, especially in the Andhra-Telangana border districts of Khammam and Nalgonda and to some extent, Mahabubnagar, besides parts of Ranga Reddy.
There is a talk that the TDP voters have extended support to the Congress in the last assembly elections, because of the equations between Naidu and his protégé A Revanth Reddy, the Pradesh Congress Committee chief.
But now, ahead of the 2024 elections, the TDP has entered into a tie-up with the BJP, but in Telangana, the saffron party has not approached the TDP seeking its support.
Realising the importance of the TDP vote bank in Khammam, the Congress has now openly approached the TDP leaders and cadre, seeking their support to its candidate R Raghurami Reddy, who is also being supported by the CPI and the CPI-M.
Congress minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, along with Raghurami Reddy, went to the TDP office and requested the support of the party for the Congress candidate in the elections.
The Congress leaders said they would stand by the TDP in Khammam on any occasion and would work together on various issues. Needless to say, the TDP extended support to the Congress candidate!