Both the parties appeared strong before they joined hands. While the BJP was expected to gain in Telangana region due to its support the statehood movement and later to the Telangana Bill in Parliament, the TDP was expected to perform well in Seemandhra region.
Following political compulsions, both the parties decided to ally with each other and consequently, their friendship turned out to be a nightmare for both. Several BJP stalwarts intervened to strike a deal between the TDP after a week-long nerve-wracking deliberations. A majority of leaders from both the parties were not willing to compromise on their ego by entering into an alliance. However, Narendra Modi wanted N Chandrababu Naidu to be on his side to be used a NDA manager after elections to garner support in case BJP does not win majority. Similarly, Naidu was keen to play a role in the national politics instead of confining himself to the politics of a divided State. Therefore, both agreed on sharing the seats and Naidu made the announcement that the BJP was being allotted 47 Assembly and 8 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and 15 Assembly and 5 Parliamentary seats in Seemandhra region.
BJP Telangana unit president G. Kishan Reddy himself was against the alliance. He did not participate in the seat-sharing talks and even announced that he would not contest the ensuing elections. The alliance did not go down well was evident with the outburst of anger among BJP leaders, who protested vehemently. In fact, the rural and urban presidents of the party in Rangareddy district had tendered their resignations too.
The TDP too faced severe opposition from the rank and file over seats being allotted to the BJP. Revanth Reddy, a vociferous leader, threatened to contest the Malkajigiri Lok Sabha seat, left for the BJP. Another senior leader in Guntur, Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, too was dumbstruck when Naidu conceded his Narsaraopet Assembly segment to the BJP. With similar protests erupting in other districts too, leaders of the both the parties now wonder whether the crucial vote-transfer would take place and help them at the hustings.
Conceptually, the electoral understanding between the BJP and the TDP should be benefiting both. The BJP, whose influence is limited to some pockets in urban centres and towns, had managed to gain some foothold in Telangana with its unequivocal stand on bifurcation of the State. On the contrary, the TDP was on the backfoot as the entire region of Telangana with 119 Assembly seats and 17 parliamentary seats was engulfed in the agitation for formation of Telangana state.
The TDP supremo, wary of losing support in the Seemandhra region if he supported Telangana, said Telangana and Seemandhra regions were like two eyes for him. However, his stand was not appreciated by people and the popularity of TDP was on the wane. That was the time when the BJP popularity charts were rising because of its unequivocal stand on bifurcation of the State in Telangana, while it was losing out in the Seemandhra region.
With the end of process for filing of nomination, the dust has settled in Telangana region. However, similar protests are likely to be witnessed in Seemandhra region once both the parties start announcing their candidates. Therefore, this alliance is proving to be a forced marriage which was bound to fail.