Telugu Desam Party wants to encash Modi magic

Hyderabad: Though not official yet, it is an open secret amongst the Telugu Desam members that the party is hoping to strike an alliance with the BJP in the 2014 polls with an eye to check potential political rivals and alliances in both the regions of the state. Telugu Desam MPs are working overtime to revive ties with BJP, snapped after the 2004 elections. Sources said BJP too is eager to revive its friendship with TD in order to improve its LS seat tally in AP. But the Telangana issue continues to be the stumbling block between the two. While TD wants BJP to talk about Seemandhra issues before formation of Telangana state, the latter is not inclined to move away from its pro-Telangana stance. The BJP top brass has denied any talk of an alliance with TD, but the TD leadership has not denied chances of a tie-up saying it will decide at the time of elections. Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu will be in Delhi on October 2, to address a convention organised by Citizens for Accountable Governance, where BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will give the Valedictory address. It is not yet known if Naidu and Modi will share the dais at the convention, but according to sources there is a possibility of a meeting between Naidu, Modi and BJP chief Rajnath Singh in Delhi. While TD leaders insist that if the BJP leadership declares that the concerns of Seemandhra region should be addressed before formation of Telangana state they would be agreeable to it. TD’s argument is that once Congress declares the Telangana state, there is a chance of TRS merging with or striking an alliance with the Congress, it will mar BJP’s chances in the region as 2014 elections will focus only on Telangana issue. Though BJP is committed to Telangana, it will not get electoral advantage in the region as only Congress and TRS will benefit. BJP should consider an alliance with TD so that both will benefit in Telangana and Seemandhra, said a TD Rajya Sabha member. BJP National Council member and former MLA Kambhampati Haribabu expressed the concerns of the party on Monday saying that the BJP national leadership should express their concerns on the impact of Telangana on Seemandhra and on the status of Hyderabad and come out with alternatives so that the party will be able to move on in the region. Meanwhile, aware of the game plan of TD to forge an alliance with BJP, TRS supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao has started scuttling their move. He talked to senior BJP leaders in Telangana and wanted them to bring it to the notice of senior party leader Sushma Swaraj who was here in connection with Mahbubnagar meeting. The TJAC leaders also met Sushma Swaraj and told her that BJP should not deviate from its stand on Telangana to reach an understanding with TD. Sushma Swaraj has demanded immediate tabling of T-bill in Parliament and BJP will support it.