Till recently, there was unbelievable excitement in the air and oodles of optimism in the yellow media on the alliance issue. In fact, this mood prevailed even until Chandrababu Naidu met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass in Delhi eight days ago. An anxious Naidu burning midnight oil awaiting a call to meet BJP strongman Amit Shah and the party’s national president J P Nadda sparked speculation that the alliance was almost firmed up.

The yellow media made some noise initially on this issue before their booming guns fell silent mysteriously. Even Chandrababu Naidu continues to be tightlipped on what really transpired in his desperate negotiations in Delhi. Even after more than a week, the TDP veteran is still to speak a word on the alliance deal. This is quite untypical of Chandrababu Naidu who never leaves even the slightest of opportunities to hog the limelight.

Had the deal worked by now, the yellow media would have gone big and ‘tom-tommed’ it, explaining why the coming-together of the TDP and Jana Sena with the BJP is a ‘historical necessity for Andhra Pradesh. There would have been a definite spring in the stride for the leaders and cadre of the TDP, Jana Sena and the BJP, trying to be at their vocal best in displaying their mutual bonhomie in public.  More than all of these, Chandrababu Naidu would have been moon-walking on ‘cloud nine’. He would have been certainly using this card to play on the minds of the public. He would have been trying to coax them into believing that their coalition had already won the battle, months before the ballot fight.

But a few developments that happened over the last eight days suggest that all is not well as was initially projected in the media. Besides the silence of Chandrababu Naidu and the yellow media, there were other ominous signs to suggest that Naidu’s idea is only crumbling like a pack of cards. After keeping everyone guessing, Chandrababu Naidu finally announced that there was no plan to field his party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections under the AP quota.

This was contrary to the buildup in the recent weeks where it was felt that Naidu was seriously harbouring hopes to put up his candidate. It was believed that Naidu was planning on ensuring massive cross-voting by disgruntled YSRCP MLAs who were denied party tickets for the 2024 Assembly elections. Taking courage from the MLC election cross voting episode, he was plotting a repeat of that by allegedly luring the YSRCP legislators. As per speculative reports, this plan was in the works even on the day Chandrababu left for Delhi.

The TDP chief eventually announcing that his party will not field its candidate gave rise to insinuations that Naidu has developed cold feet. And things did not go as planned in his alliance talks in Delhi.

Another indication came from the sudden cancellation of Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s scheduled Bhimavaram tour. In an attention-diversion tactic, Jana Sena came up with flimsy excuses alleging that the YSRCP government is creating troubles for the landing of their leader’s helicopter. However, Jana Sena insiders say that Pawan Kalyan is not in a position to face his cadre and the public with the seat-sharing issue still hanging fire.

A few days after Chandrababu Naidu’s Delhi visit, a section of the vernacular media and the social media began propagating that the BJP top leadership has put forth several conditions for their presence in the alliance. A ‘4(TDP)+2(Jana Sena)+1 (BJP)’ seat-sharing formula in every Parliamentary constituency and sharing of chiefministership if the coalition wins the elections are the most conspicuous among them. Stung by these demands which will be unpalatable not just to him but to the entire TDP cadre, Chandrababu is said to be cursing himself for inviting this trouble and thus fell silent.

There was also speculation that Chandrababu Naidu’s frantic efforts almost reached the point of fruition but came crashing down following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Soon after Chandrababu Naidu left Delhi, YS Jagan held meetings with Amit Shah and J P Nadda and had a 45-minute-long one-on-one with Modi the next day.

It is rumoured that Narendra Modi had given enough clarity that the BJP would not be sailing with Chandrababu Naidu and his TDP again. Grapevine has it that Modi even elicited Jagan’s opinion on the likely pitfalls of the BJP joining hands with the TDP and Jana Sena. Consequently, the BJP continues to be elusive on the issue, strengthening the suspicions that the ‘dream alliance’ plan is all but buried.