Narendra Modi, Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan to share dais at Chilakaluripet meeting in Andhra Pradesh on March 17

[TELUGU]

There is every possibility of the leaders releasing a full-fledged joint election manifesto at the meeting, say alliance leaders

All eyes are set on the first joint meeting of the Telugu Desam Party, Jana Sena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the parties forged an alliance for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share the dais with TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and JSP president Pawan Kalyan at the meeting scheduled to be held at Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district on March 17. 

The three parties will fight the elections together again after a gap of six years and an understanding has been reached on seat sharing between the partners.

A day after the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance was forged, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy questioned the basis of the alliance. He asked whether the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had granted the Special Category Status (SCS) to the State or fulfilled any other promises made during the ‘unscientific bifurcation’ of Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, when he was in the opposition between 2014 and 2019, had fought for the SCS and promised the people in the run-up to the 2019 elections that he would achieve the SCS for the State if the YSRCP got all 25 MP seats. The YSRCP won 22 Lok Sabha seats in the elections. The Chief Minister made a statement that the YSRCP was not in a position to demand SCS as the NDA government had got sufficient numbers in the both the Houses. 

Mr. Naidu, at a party event on March 13 (Wednesday), said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy should explain why he failed to achieve the promises made to the State in the A.P. Reorganisation Act. “Did the Central government tell him not to complete the Polavaram project and build teh capital in Amaravati?” he asked. 

Meanwhile, the leaders of the alliance said there was every possibility of the leaders releasing a full-fledged and joint election manifesto at the Chilakaluripet meeting. Before entering the NDA, the TDP and JSP had declared a mini-manifesto with six promises and released the ‘BC Declaration’. These mini-manifesto and BC Declaration were released to counter the Navaratnalu schemes, the flagship programme of the YSRCP government.

Groundbreaking ceremony

Meanwhile, the alliance leaders including TDP State president K. Atchannaidu, national general secretary Nara Lokesh, Chilakaluripet candidate Prathipati Pulla Rao, JSP secretary K. Sivadhar, BJP leader Pathuri Nagabhushanam and others participated in the groundbreaking ceremony at the venue for the meeting at Boppudi Village in Chilakaluripet on March 13 (Wednesday).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Lokesh said the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh would vote in favour of the alliance to dethrone the YSRCP. He accused Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy of implementing ‘anti-people policies’ in the last five years.

Mr. Atchannaidu alleged that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy ruled the State in an ‘undemocratic manner’ which led to high unemployment, inflation and other problems. Mr. Nagabhushanam said the people were waiting for the elections to vote Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy out of power.

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