The ongoing discussions between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party over seat-sharing for the forthcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh appear to be an unending saga.
While TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has been conducting Raa-Kadali Raa public rallies, traveling from place to place, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan is in Hyderabad, waiting for leaders from other parties to join his party. Occasionally, he visits one or two places.
However, there have been no concrete talks between Naidu and Pawan. According to party sources, Naidu will stay back in Hyderabad for the next couple of days and is expected to have meetings with Pawan Kalyan, provided the latter is available.
"So far, both the leaders have not come to a concrete understanding on the number of seats to be shared, let alone identifying the seats. The recent developments in which Naidu announced candidates for two seats and Pawan announced his own seats in retaliation have created some kind of misunderstanding between the two parties," a TDP leader said.
He mentioned that if the talks on seat-sharing do not take place before the first week of February, it would be too late, as the candidates would have little time for campaigning in their respective constituencies.
"It also requires considerable time for the cadres of the two parties to get adjusted and work together in the elections. The sooner it happens, the better. Otherwise, there is no point in having the alliance. There is every possibility that what happened in Telangana in the 2018 elections will be repeated in Andhra this time," the TDP leader said.
Apparently, Pawan Kalyan has decided to step into the campaign only after the conclusion of the seat-sharing agreement.
For now, he has scheduled his tours from February 4, starting with Anakapalle. If the alliance doesn't materialize by then, it will create troubles for both parties, sources said.
