Naidu, Lokesh among 99 faces in TDP-JSP’s first list; 57 seats on hold amid BJP suspense

However, while the TDP will contest 94 seats out of the state’s total 175 Assembly seats, the JSP will contest 24 seats while the remaining 57 seats have been kept pending. Sources in the TDP said that both the TDP and the JSP are waiting to see if the BJP joins their alliance, which would necessitate seat-sharing in the 57 seats.

The prominent names among the TDP candidates announced include party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who will contest from his home turf of Kuppam, and his son and party general secretary N Lokesh Naidu, who will contest from Mangalagiri. The party’s state unit president, K Atchan Naidu, will contest from Tekkali, while the former Andhra Pradesh BJP chief Kanna Lakshminarayana will be fielded by the party from Sattenapalle.

Some of the other high-profile TDP candidates are Kishore Kumar Reddy, the younger brother of former Congress CM Kiran Kumar Reddy, contesting from Pileru, and Naidu’s brother-in-law and actor Nandamuri Balakrishna contesting from Hindupur.

Among the JSP’s candidates are Nadendla Manohar from Tenali, Lokam Madhavi from Nellimarla, B Balaramakrishna from Rajanagaram, Pantham Nanaji from Kakinada Rural, and Konathala Ramakrishna from Anakapalle.

Amid tense seat-sharing talks and hard bargaining between the two allies, actor-turned-politician and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday said he had pleaded with the BJP’s central leaders to formalise the alliance with the TDP-JSP combine in Andhra Pradesh and that such efforts have caused him a lot of mental agony.

“Our alliance is for a greater cause that is the future of this state. Announcing our first list jointly is a good start for that effort. Andhra Pradesh’s reputation and image has suffered under YSR Congress Party rule,” Naidu said while announcing the list with Kalyan by his side.

Reacting to the first list of candidates, state BJP president D Purandeswari maintained that any decision on joining the alliance would be taken by the BJP central leadership and that there was no such indication so far.

TDP insiders said following Naidu’s meeting with top BJP leaders in Delhi last month, the alliance has been finalised and that just its announcement is pending. They said the TDP has offered 5-6 Lok Sabha seats (out of a total of 25 LS seats) and 40 Assembly constituencies to the BJP-JSP combine. The BJP has sought 10 seats for the Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

Sources said the TDP and the JSP leaders met during the week to discuss seat-sharing with winnability of the candidates as the main criterion in this regard. “Negotiations are going on for a few contentious seats, which both the TDP and JSP are claiming, and candidates would be announced shortly. The JSP wants some seats in some of the districts but the TDP has strong candidates too. Talks are going on, and hopefully they will be resolved,” a TDP leader said.

Sources said that the TDP and JSP leaders will reach out to the BJP central leadership once again next week on joining the alliance, otherwise they will announce their candidates for the remaining 57 seats.

Reacting to the TDP-JSP’s first list of candidates, YSRCP general secretary and adviser to the government, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, claimed Naidu had allotted to the JSP only those seats that he did not want. “Pawan Kalyan got what Naidu dropped. I really pity Pawan Kalyan. Last time, he contested from two seats and lost from both. His name is not there in the first list. I don’t understand why Pawan Kalyan is supporting Naidu because he is getting nothing out of it,” Reddy said.