Hyderabad:
Telugu Desam president Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan have announced their first list of 118 candidates for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, in which TDP will contest 94 seats and Jana Sena will contest 24 seats. He said the party will also contest three Lok Sabha seats out of the 25 parliamentary seats in the state.
Both the leaders are still keeping the scope open for joining hands to form an alliance for BJP. “When there are any developments on the BJP front, we will keep you informed about the decisions taken,” Mr Naidu said.
There are 175 assembly and 25 parliament seats in Andhra Pradesh where elections will be held simultaneously.
Mr Naidu had met BJP leaders Amit Shah and JP Nadda in Delhi two weeks ago. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan has expressed hope that the three parties should come together to defeat the ruling YSRCP.
A list of 118 names reportedly crowdsourced by the alliance led by Chandrababu Naidu and Paval Kalyan has been released.
Names have been collected from 1 crore citizens, with Mr Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party or TDP fielding the highest number of new candidates, a notable change in the state’s politics.
“This unprecedented list of 118 candidates marks a significant change in the political landscape of Andhra Pradesh, with an unprecedented inclusion of new faces, young candidates, representation from the BC (Backward Class) community and women candidates,” the TDP said in a statement. “
Addressing a press conference in Undavalli, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said, “TDP-JSP are ready for the electoral battle. This alliance is for the future of the state and the bright future of Andhra Pradesh.”
The list includes 28 candidates with postgraduate degree, 50 candidates with undergraduate degree, 3 doctors, 2 PhD and 1 IAS officer.
“This candidate selection process stands as a testament to the power of the public, as it has been prepared after considering the opinions of more than 1 crore 3 lakh 33 thousand people. By adopting crowdsourcing, the TDP-JSP alliance aims to retain power. To decentralize.” To keep the aspirations and voices of the people of Andhra at the forefront of our political agenda,” the statement said.
Chandrababu Naidu said the Jagan Reddy-led ruling YSRCP has given names through camp offices, while the TDP-JSP list is “not only inclusive but also revolutionary”.
