On Sunday, April 30, Andhra Pradesh state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Somu Veerraju said that he is unaware of the motive of the meeting between Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan. “Meetings are common in politics. I am unaware of the purpose of the meeting, and we are not aware of the specifics of what was discussed,” he said. The BJP leader was responding to questions from reporters at the Mann Ki Baat event in Mangalagiri town of Guntur district.
Chandrababu Naidu, who is a former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and Pawan Kalyan, whose party is in alliance with the BJP, met at the former’s residence in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 29. The two leaders reportedly spoke for more than an hour. Although neither leader has disclosed the motive for the meeting, it is believed that both are eyeing an alliance. Somu Veerraju reacted sharply to questions on this, saying, “It is they who must be questioned about any TDP-JSP alliance.”
The meeting is of significance because less than a month earlier, on April 4, Pawan Kalyan, along with the JSP’s political affairs committee chairperson Nadendla Manohar had met with JP Nadda, the national president of the BJP, and other important leaders.
Speaking at a party event in Visakhapatnam, Nadendla Manohar said, “Pawan Kalyan believes that all parties must come together to defeat the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and achieve a YSRCP-free Andhra Pradesh.” Nadlenda said that Pawan Kalyan’s talks with Chandrababu Naidu involved discussions regarding the same.