BJP, TDP in numbers game

• Number of seats remains bone of contention
• TDP ready to give only 40 MLA, 8 MP seats in T
• In Seemandhra, it is okay for 13 MLA, 5 MP seats
• Final outcome on alliance likely today
• Naidu speaks to Rajnath, explains ground reality

Hyderabad: The hurdles that arose during the process of talks in regard to seat-sharing between the TDP and the BJP in Telangana seem to have made some headway, but a final decision is likely to be announced on Tuesday.

The talks between the two sides which hit a road block made some progress on Monday as the BJP central leadership intervened and held day-long consultations both with the leaders of the State party unit as well as the TDP leaders who rushed to Delhi following invitation from the BJP.

After several rounds of consultations between the BJP and the TDP leaders at the house of Arun Jaitley, the focus shifted to the house of BJP national president Rajnath Singh to work out the nitty-gritty. Speculations are rife that the BJP is understood to have arrived at a decision to agree for 40 Assembly seats and 8 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and for 13 Assembly and 5 Lok Sabha seats in Seemandhra. However, the BJP sources would not confirm this. According to Telangana BJP president G Kishen Reddy, the number of seats is still the bone of contention between both the sides.

In a day of hard bargaining, the BJP leaders told the TDP that the country was witnessing a strong Modi wave, and hence the TDP would stand to benefit if they can seal the tie-up. But the TDP leaders are learnt to have made it clear that they were very strong on their own in Seemandhra. The TDP can at the most agree to 13 Assembly and 5 Lok Sabha seats. They presented various survey reports and the statistics to drive home the point that the TDP was very strong in the region.

The leaders who participated in the talks from the BJP included Arun Jaitley, Prakash Javedekar, Bandaru Dattatreya, G Kishan Reddy etc. From the TDP side, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Motkupalli Narsimhulu and Sujana Chowdary were present. It is learnt that they told the BJP leaders that the BJP was riding high, but the ground reality was different.

Meanwhile, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Interestingly, while both the sides were involved in talks in New Delhi, BJP leader and film actor Krishnamraju called on Chandrababu Naidu here and sought his support. Raju is likely to contest from Narsapuram in West Godavari district.