TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu addressing the party's politburo meeting at his residence in Hyderabad on Thursday
After weeks of proposals and demurrals over their proposed alliance for the general election, the BJP and Chandrababu Naidu are close to the finishing line, but sources they are still trying to iron out final kinks around the division of seats and who gets to contest Vishakhapatnam.
The BJP and Mr Naidu's Telugu Desam Party or TDP may soon announce a partnership for the national and state election in Andhra Pradesh, resuscitating an alliance that was last seen in 2004. (
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Sources say an announcement has been delayed by a tussle over two key seats - Vijayawada, widely considered the political capital of Andhra Pradesh, and Vishakhapatnam, a potential capital of Seemandhra, which will form the downsized Andhra Pradesh after the creation of Telangana.
In Vishakhapatnam, the BJP wants to field its new recruit D Purandeswari, the sister-in-law of Mr Naidu. Sources say the TDP chief is unwilling to concede any space to another politician in the family from a rival party.
Sources Mr Naidu has agreed to give the BJP eight parliamentary to contest in the Telangana region, and five in the residuary Seemandhra region.
Andhra Pradesh will be divided on June 2 and the region of Telangana will be carved out as India's 29th state. Mr Naidu is not popular in this region because he was cagey about his stand on a new Telangana state, refusing to openly endorse it.
For the same reason, Mr Naidu is expected to benefit in Seemandhra, where people have aggressively opposed the new map as they would fear a reduced share of water, power and revenue from Telangana.
NDTV's opinion poll shows a big leap forward for Mr Naidu in Seemandhra. The TDP gets 14 of the 25 parliamentary seats at stake, according to the forecast. That's a gain of 10 seats from 2009. (
NDTV Opinion Poll: Chandrababu Naidu makes big gains in Seemandhra)
Telangana votes on April 30; Seemandhra votes a week later on May 7.