Andhra Pradesh Chief minister and YSR Congress Party president Jagan Mohan Reddy, made a dig at opposition party alliances on Sunday, March 10, at Medarmetla in the Baptal district. In a speech addressing party activists during the Siddam meeting CM Jagan targeted Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and said that he was desperate for striking alliance deals with Pawan Kalyan's Janasena Party (JSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). CM Jagan also announced that the party would release its manifesto soon.
Following discussions between Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the TDP, JSP, and BJP announced their alliance on Saturday, March 9.
TDP contested the 2014 elections in a coalition with the JSP and BJP and stormed to power in divided Andhra Pradesh. In 2018, TDP severed its ties with the BJP over denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh. In the subsequent 2019 elections, TDP and JSP ran independently and were defeated by YSRCP, which secured a resounding majority.
"Naidu is unable to pedal his cycle alone so he was desperate for alliance. The parties in the alliance are accountable for the unfair division of Andhra Pradesh. It has parties that polled fewer votes than NOTA,” Jagan said referring to the tripartite alliance between TDP, JSP, and the BJP. Jagan also questioned why Naidu went to Delhi with Pawan Kalyan for alliance when he claims YSRCP government has not fulfilled promises.
Jagan recalled the 2014 elections, highlighting the failure of the BJP-TDP-JSP alliance to fulfil promises. "Naidu failed to get special category status for AP with an alliance. What will he do now?" questioned Jagan. Criticising Naidu's manifesto, Jagan said, "Naidu’s manifesto is a copy of schemes from Karnataka and Telangana. I don't promise what is not achievable. If I promise, I will do it. We will release our manifesto soon, and we will fulfil all the promises."
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Jagan urged the party cadre to work towards achieving the party's goals of winning all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Parliament seats.
Earlier, three Siddam meetings were held by the party to mobilise the party activists between January 27 and February 18 in Bheemili, Eluru, and Anantapur. On Sunday, the meeting was held for party activists from the six districts of Bapatla, Guntur, Prakasham, Palnadu, Nellore, and Tirupati. The six districts encompassed a total of 43 Assembly Constituencies.