As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) yet squabbling over key seats in the Seemandhra region, fresh nuisance is brewing for the alliance. This is relating to none other than Narendra Modi and N Chandrababu Naidu, the two key leaders in the respective parties.
The TDP chief wants the two of them to share the dais so that the regional party can extract maximum mileage from the ‘Modi wave’, whereas the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate wants his Seemandhra campaign to be a one-man show.
The Gujarat chief minister is schedule to address public meetings in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Rajahmumdry, and Tirupati, and the BJP leaders are working on the dates cautiously fixed between April 20 and May 5 for Modi’s campaign.
However, they have been unable to fix the dates as Naidu is maintaining that it should be a joint campaign. According to BJP sources, Modi’s election campaign across the country has been a one-man show and that he would like to keep it that way in Seemandhra as well.
As there is no Modi-Naidu joint poll campaign, the TDP is now urging the saffron party to at least ensure that the two leaders be a part of the dais at a non-political event when the Gujarat chief minister comes visiting. “We are trying to work out a compromise by which Modi’s political campaign will be a solo event and, at the same time, the two leaders put up an appearance together at an event,” said a BJP source.
TDP leaders are insisting that the alliance should be subjugated to the hilt so that both parties can reap electoral dividends. “Chandrababu Naidu and Modi are two towering leaders and it would be a good sight for the voters if they appear together. They must share the dais during the poll campaign,” said Rammohan Naidu, the TDP candidate from Srikakulam. “The BJP leaders must not make an issue out of this,” he said.
BJP leaders are in no doubt that a solution would be worked out to the satisfaction of both parties. “There is no confusion in our poll pitch whatsoever. Our campaign is going to be centered on the slogan ‘Modi-for-PM, Naidufor-CM’.
Concerning the two leaders sharing the dais, it would be decided when we sit for finalising the details of the programmes,” said Anjaneya Reddy, Seemandhra BJP spokesperson.