Congress leaders TG Venkatesh, E Prathap Reddy, are welcomed by Chandrababu Naidu in TDP at his residence in Hyderabad on March 9
The first hint that the Telugu Desam Party or TDP could consider a pre-election alliance with the BJP came from party chief Chandrababu Naidu at a rally in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday evening.
Pitching himself as the only leader capable of bringing progress and development to the Seemandhra region, Mr Naidu said the BJP too had issued statements promising to rebuild the region, which will form the residuary state after Andhra Pradesh is split to create a Telangana state. "I never do anything for personal gain, I do it for the sake of the people," he said.
A leader who has so far spoken about economic reforms and against sops that can bleed the treasury, Mr Naidu promised multiple welfare measures like farm loan waivers, a job to an educated youth in every family, unemployment bonus and sops for auto, taxi and bus drivers, who, he said, should campaign for his party and for the welfare of their children.
Taking credit for all the development that has taken place in Andhra Pradesh and in Hyderabad - from making the city an IT hub to giving it the Outer Ring Road - Mr Naidu said neither TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) leader KCR (K Chandrasekhar Rao) nor the Congress could take any credit for it. He promised that Vizag would be transformed under his leadership.
Mr Naidu asserted that his party would come back to power not just in Seemandhra but also in Telangana, as it had spoken about equal justice for Seemandhra and social justice in Telangana.
The TDP leader said he was welcoming leaders from other parties to join hands with his to strengthen his party in areas it is weak.
The former chief minister said he was using technology in the form of the IVRS or interactive voice system to allow people to select their own candidates by naming their choice of candidate on the phone.