After waiting for weeks with fingers crossed, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu is finally off to Delhi. This time around, he is hoping for a final shape to his proposal to bring in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into the poll alliance in Andhra Pradesh. There is considerable amount of speculation on what is the likely fallout of his crucial alliance deliberations with the BJP top brass.

Naidu’s crony media or yellow media has been bombarding with reports claiming that the deal is only inches away from fruition. There is contrasting speculation which says that the BJP has already weighed in all options and vetted reports from various sources on the ground strength of all the political parties in the state. It is said that a recent internal survey report projected a comfortable victory to the YS Jagan-led YSRCP.

With no real victory prospects from Andhra Pradesh, the BJP is believed to be not in the mood to prop up some other party, the TDP in this case, to wrest power. Also, the party is still under the belief that Chandrababu Naidu is not trustworthy. It is fully aware of his playbook of opportunistic politics, given the bitter experiences they had in the past with the wily leader. Hence, it is speculated that the national ruling party may opt for a hard-bargaining approach with Chandrababu Naidu during the latest alliance seat-sharing negotiations. As per speculative reports, the TDP chief is hoping to convince the BJP to settle for five Lok Sabha seats and eight Assembly seats.

This current feeling in the top ranks of the BJP also goes in tune with its recent moves wherein it had asked its state unit to prepare a list of ticket aspirants for all the 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats. The idea is to go it alone with the objective of making some significant gains in vote share, if not in seats, and let the TDP-Janasena combine slug it out with the YSRCP in the do-or-die battle.

Reflecting this mood, the BJP top leadership, which is currently holding meetings with its key state unit functionaries including Purandheswari and her predecessor Somu Veerraju in Delhi, has refrained from dropping any hints on the alliance possibilities. Speaking to the media in the national capital, both Veerraju and Punrandheswari confirmed this, saying that the alliance aspect did not crop up during their meetings with the party top leaders.

Naidu in Delhi on his own or at BJP’s call?

The latest round of speculation, mostly in yellow media, gives the impression that the TDP and Janasena are very close to clinching the seat-sharing deal with the BJP during Chandrababu Naidu’s Delhi visit. They also claim that a formal announcement on the alliance would be made as soon as the stalemate is settled during negotiations.

In this connection, the Naidu crony media channels and publications have also been publicising that the TDP chief’s Delhi visit was prompted in response to an official invitation from the BJP. However, doubts are being raised on the authenticity of these claims as Chandrababu Naidu has a pre-scheduled engagement to take part in a media conclave in the national capital. It is being whispered that Naidu could be simply using his media organs to leverage his Delhi trip meant for other engagement and finalise the alliance deal with the BJP.

Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan too is heading off to Delhi, almost around the same time as Chandrababu Naidu. Both the TDP and the Janasena have maintained that their leaders are visiting Delhi on BJP’s official invitation. Whether invited or not, it is very clear that both Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are on a tightrope walk, with their task cut out, in getting the BJP to agree to their terms. The two parties are already battling a groundswell of anger within their ranks, as a fallout of their seat-sharing. And the BJP too joining the mix and grabbing more seats than originally offered is only going to add fuel to this fire.

Given this precarious scenario, a lot of the TDP activists are said to be quietly praying to Gods that the deal with the BJP should fall apart. There is a feeling in the lower rungs of the party that the deal with the saffron party would be nothing but suicidal. They feel that the TDP-Janasena combine itself is good enough to take on the mighty YSRCP and there would be no need to part with additional seats to accommodate the BJP in the mix.

But one thing that they are fully aware of but do not wish to speak out in the open is the personal compulsions of their leader Chandrababu Naidu to hanker for BJP’s support. Naidu is currently caught in a quagmire of scams, thanks to the alleged rampant corruption during the TDP’s rule between 2014-19. He had only made matters worse for himself with a torrent of indignant attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the 2019 elections. Even though he has sealed his mouth since then and refrained from the Modi-bashing, he also realises the dangers of not being on the same side as the BJP, let alone picking up fresh skirmishes with it.

Also, with most surveys predicting the victories of Modi at the Centre and YS Jagan in Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu somehow wants to make the alliance with the BJP work, in the hope of acquiring that all-important protective shield from future legal challenges, especially from the YSRCP government in the state.