Vijayawada: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the NDA election meeting in Palnadu district on March 17, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde said on Friday. TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan would also participate in the meeting, marking the first NDA election meeting in Andhra Pradesh in the run-up to the 2024 polls.
The meeting would see the participation of all the three alliance partners, TDP, Janasena and BJP, after 10 years. Modi, Naidu and Kalyan will be seen on the same stage after a long time. The BJP leader lashed out at the ruling party, YSRCP, in the state for allegedly rebranding Central Government-funded schemes with Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's name and extending them to the masses. He termed it as cheating.
For the NDA meeting to be held at Boppudi village in Chilakaluripeta mandal of Palnadu district, Naidu has formed committees manned by TDP, Janasena and BJP to supervise the arrangements. TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, party state president K Atchen Naidu and other leaders visited the meeting venue on March 13.
Andhra Pradesh NDA partners finalised their seat-sharing formula for the Lok Sabha and state polls following a marathon discussion held at Naidu's Andhra Pradesh residence in Undavalli on March 11, under which the BJP will contest six Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats while the TDP will fight 17 parliamentary and 144 state seats. Under the deal, Pawan Kalyan's Janasena will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 assembly seats.
Naidu has announced the names of 128 candidates for the assembly polls. The Janasena has announced seven candidates so far and Kalyan will fight the assembly election from Pithapuram constituency. The BJP is yet to announce the list of its candidates for the polls. In a statement, Naidu noted that under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Modi, BJP, Janasena and TDP have decided to contest the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh together.
"We are committed to the progress and development of Andhra Pradesh and the upliftment of the people of our state. We are committed to the development of our nation, aspiring for India to rise as a global leader," he said. Naidu said the NDA partners agreed to make the interests of the state and its future the utmost priority and key driving factor during seat-sharing discussions.
