In preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, N Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, revealed the finalized seat-sharing agreement between his party and the BJP. This arrangement encompasses both the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections in the state.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is slated to compete for six Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly constituencies, whereas N Chandrababu Naidu's TDP will vie for 17 parliamentary seats and 144 state assembly positions. Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP) has been allocated two Lok Sabha seats and 21 assembly constituencies to contest as part of the arrangement. The state has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats.
Ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP, TDP, and Jana Sena Party have forged a political understanding for an alliance. This significant development followed the conclusion of the second round of discussions among the parties' representatives, which took place at the residence of Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday.
A subsequent meeting aimed at solidifying the seat-sharing arrangement was convened in Amaravati on Monday. Present at the meeting were Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat, BJP National Vice President Baijayant Panda, TDP Chief Naidu, and JSP President Pawan Kalyan.
The upcoming 2024 polls mark the first occasion where the three parties are jointly contesting. In the 2014 elections, while the TDP and BJP formed an alliance, Jana Sena acted as their external ally.