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The BJP is said to have insisted upon holding the chief minister post in Andhra Pradesh if the TDP wants to have alliance with the party. The BJP national leadership is said to have communicated the same to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu when he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi last week.
The BJP actually has two plans on hand if it accepts the alliance proposal with the TDP. The first plan is to leave the chief minister post to the BJP and the second plan is to merge the TDP with the BJP. If the TDP accepts either of these proposals, there would be alliance between the BJP and the TDP, sources said.
However, the BJP is not ready for any alliance with the TDP as of now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are against having any electoral tie-up with the BJP. They say that the TDP is an undependable ally, and they don’t want to take any risk at this point of time. Moreover, they have solid support from the ruling YSR Congress from Andhra Pradesh.
BJP state unit vice-president Vishnuvardhan Reddy, the other day, said that the chief minister post would have to be left to the BJP if any party wants to have alliance with the BJP. If the TDP wants alliance, it should leave the chief minister post to the BJP leadership, sources said.
The BJP wants to make Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan the chief minister for the first half of the term and find its own candidate for the second half. This would mean that the TDP will not have any chance to become the chief minister.
Chandrababu Naidu is planning to install his son Nara Lokesh as the chief minister in the second half of the term. He had already made Lokesh a minister in his cabinet from 2016 to 2019 by bringing him to the Legislative Council. This time, even if Lokesh is defeated, and the TDP-Jana Sena alliance wins, Naidu wants his son to be the second chief minister of the state. But, if he goes for alliance with the BJP, he will lose this chance.
The BJP is offering a minister of state post at the Centre for Lokesh, if the TDP is merged with the BJP. It had also offered to make TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu as the vice-president of the BJP at the national level.
It is to be seen what decision Chandrababu Naidu would take as the elections are fast approaching. He has to decide where to go and what to do, before the election schedule is announced.
