Whether one agrees or not, the Telugu Desam Party led by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has regained considerable lost ground in Andhra Pradesh ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
Naidu has been struggling hard to bring back the glory to the party, while his son Nara Lokesh has been undertaking padayatra to rejuvenate the party leaders and cadre.
The party leaders in various districts are taking part in agitational programmes, braving police arrests and cases.
Reports from the field indicate that the TDP has definitely improved his position compared to 2019 and has bright prospects in the coming elections.
Yet, the TDP chief appears to be not confident of coming to power by putting up a tough fight against the YSR Congress party led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy single-handedly.
He seems to be afraid that he might not get enough numbers to form the government on his own.
That is why, he is desperate to forge an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jana Sena Party headed by power star Pawan Kalyan.
The desperation was clearly evident once again in his meeting with BJP national president J P Nadda at New Delhi on Monday.
While speaking to the reporters at New Delhi on Tuesday, Naidu exposed his weakness in fighting against the YSRCP alone.
He told them in no uncertain terms that he is open to an alliance with the BJP and that the details of the negotiations cannot be disclosed.
“I cannot comment about the alliances now and we have not decided yet on the issue. Discussions are on and a decision on alliances will be taken at an appropriate time as we assess the situation from time to time. Only time will decide how and when the alliances would be,” he said.
He further said that coalition politics was not new to the TDP, and that the party had played a pivotal role in the formation of the National Front and other coalitions — like the BJP-led NDA — at the Centre.
Naidu also said that his party differed with the NDA in 2018 only on the issue of granting special-category status to Andhra Pradesh. Otherwise, he said, his party had no fundamental differences with the BJP. It would support the Centre in nation-building, Naidu added.
Stating that there is no other opposition leader who can match up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the TDP chief said unlike the previous Prime Ministers, Modi had brought recognition to India on the global stage.
But so far, it has been only one-sided love from Naidu towards the BJP which is yet to respond to his overtures and the proposal made by Pawan Kalyan for an alliance among the three parties to defeat YSRC in 2024.