Alliance with Chandrababu Naidu continues, declares BJP

Hyderabad: The BJP claims that it has resolved all differences with Chandrababu Naidu today and that its alliance in Andhra Pradesh will continue. As part of the settlement, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, the party will cede a part of the seats assigned to it for the state election to Mr Naidu's party.

Andhra Pradesh votes simultaneously for the national and state election. Mr Naidu had  publicly faulted  the BJP for selecting weak candidates for the state election - by association, he says, voters will reject his party's candidates for parliament as well. The other sticking point - unacknowledged publicly - is that the BJP has given a ticket to his sister-in-law, Purandeswari, for the national election. She quit the Congress recently for the BJP, and her relationship with Mr Naidu, who is married to her sister, has been fractious.

Analysts had stressed that for all his tough talk, Mr Naidu, who heads the regional Telugu Desam Party or TDP, is unlikely to punt the potential benefits of partnering with the BJP, given that it's predicted to win the maximum seats in the national election. (India Votes 2014: full coverage)

For the BJP, Mr Naidu is a key member of the club of its 25 pre-poll partners. In the regions of Seemandhra, which will form the new Andhra Pradesh after Telangana is carved out, Mr Naidu is expected to poll strong results because he never endorsed the bifurcation of the state. (Read: BJP announces alliance with Chandrababu Naidu's TDP)

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Tomorrow is the last day for candidates to file their nomination papers in Andhra Pradesh. Just in case a happy ending is not configured, both parties are drawing up a list of candidates for all constituencies - so they have the option to fight each other in the election as Plan B.

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