Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu might be desperate to continue the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 elections also, so as to gain political advantage out of the Narendra Modi factor, but the BJP seems to have other plans.
According to party sources, the BJP might prefer to go alone in the next elections in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and contest all the seats, rather than restricting itself to a few seats left by the TDP as part of alliance.
However, if it is so essential, it might have a friendly contest with the TDP in many seats so as to continue friendship.
The main reason for going it alone in the next elections is that the party will test its ground in Andhra and it will show how many seats it can win independently.
Apparently, the BJP is enthused by the resounding victory in the recent five-state assembly elections, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. This has given the confidence to the BJP cadres that the party can grow independently in the south without having to have pillion riding on the back of the allies.
A clear picture would emerge during the visit of BJP national president Amit Shah to Vijayawada on May 25.
Shah is scheduled to have a direct interaction with the party’s booth committee members at the grassroots level from Andhra Pradesh. He may have another round of talks in August.
