After flip flops Naidu returns to NDA fold

HYDERABAD: After a fortnight-long drama, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP on Sunday finally announced their alliance for the upcoming parliamentary and assembly elections.

As per the terms of agreement, the TDP has conceded eight Lok Sabha and 47 Assembly seats in Telangana and five Lok Sabha and 15 Assembly seats in Seemandhra to the saffron party.

Even as the two sides made the announcement, a rebellion of sorts broke out in both the camps with ticket aspirants taking to the streets.

Ignoring the protests, both the BJP and TDP went ahead and sealed the deal, but the nitty-gritty of which seat will go to whom will be decided in a couple of days.

The alliance was formally announced at a press conference at TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's residence. Sharing the platform with him were BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, party treasurer Piyush Goyal, veteran leader Bandaru Dattatreya and NDA co-convenor and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral. All NDA leaders welcomed TDP's re-entry into the NDA.

'We welcome you to this historic moment. Our party president Rajnath Singh and senior leader Arun Jaitley spoke to Naidu and welcomed him into the NDA. The BJP-TDP combine will help Seemandhra and Telangana states grow and develop fast,' Javadekar told the media.

An upbeat Naidu said both parties had joined hands keeping in mind their mutual interests as well the interests of Telangana, Seemandhra and the nation at large.

Interestingly, the TDP, which parted ways with the NDA a decade ago, returned like a prodigal son on the anniversary of BJP's formation day. Asserting that the alliance would help solve water and power problems in both Telangana and Seemandhra, Naidu repeated the words of Narendra Modi, BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

'At the end of the day, our aim is to provide a stable and efficient government and a corruption-free administration. We want to root out Congress from the country. That is why we have joined hands,' he said. Exuding confidence that the NDA will cross the 300 mark in the Lok Sabha,

Naidu said, 'People from all walks of life want to see Narendra Modi as PM to replicate the Gujarat development model across the country.'

The 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will go to polls on April 30, while elections to 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra will be held on May 7.