Telugu Desam Party headed by jailed former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party led by power star Pawan Kalyan have broadly decided to have an alliance in the assembly elections in the state scheduled early next year.
But they are said to be terribly worried about the lack of coordination between the two parties at the field level, as the cadres are not mentally prepared yet to sail together.
Both the parties have appointed their respective coordination committees to work out common strategies to fight against the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
While Pawan Kalyan appointed a committee headed by Nadendla Manohar to coordinate the alliance issues on behalf of Jana Sena Party, the TDP appointed a five-member coordination committee on Sunday.
The TDP committee, comprising K Atchennaidu, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Payyavula Kesav, Pitani Satyanarayana and Tangirala Sowmya, has been entrusted with the responsibility of interacting with the party leaders and cadres at the constituency level and convince them to work with the Jana Sena.
The immediate task between both the coordination committees is to fight against the alleged illegal arrest of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, besides exposing the corruption of the YSR Congress party at the grassroots level.
The committees would also discuss with the leaders of both the parties at the constituency level to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the parties and the candidates aspiring for tickets, so as to bring about a compromise between the two parties.
Sources in the TDP said it is easier said than done. The Jana Sena Party leaders in several districts have already been preparing themselves to contest the elections and now, if there is an alliance with the TDP, they are apprehensive that they would lose their hold.
Similar situation is prevailing in the TDP, as many aspirants, particularly in East and West Godavari districts, are fearing that they may have to sacrifice their seats for the Jana Sena Party.
“So far, there are no instances of both the party workers coming together to fight on common issues. In fact, there has not been much response from the Jana Sena Party workers to the arrest of Naidu so far. Let alone participating in the agitational programmes, they have not issued any statements in support of the TDP leaders,” a TDP leader said.