Will the Jagan-KCR bonhomie backfire?

Hyderabad, Jan 19: Amidst all the alliances that have been announced ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, here is another one that should be keenly watched. The TRS and YSR Congress could fight the Lok Sabha battles in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together.

There are 42 seats up for grabs in both these states and the two parties would be up against the Congress and the TDP. While the Congress and TDP came together for the Telangana assembly elections, it is unlikely that they would fight together in AP during the Lok Sabha polls.

The TDP-Congress combine did not work in Telangana. The sentiment against Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP was high as he was seen as the man who had blocked the formation of the state.

The question now is will there be a reverse sentiment if the TDP-YSR Congress come together. In Andhra Pradesh, K Chandrashekhar Rao is seen the person who bifurcated the state. The people of the Seema-Andhra region had vehemently opposed the bifurcation of the state, but KCR had his way.

Further the people of Andhra Pradesh are also upset that the TRS did not allow a discussion in Parliament on the special category status for AP. While the top leaders of the two parties may be in favour of an alliance, on the ground the workers are not in favour of it.

The workers feel that this would be counterproductive and any such alliance could end up giving the TDP a victory on a platter. People in AP have already started questioning Jagan Mohan Reddy about the logic behind this alliance. The special status is an emotive issue and the people of the state feel that the TRS is one of the reasons as to why it did not come through.

Leading political scientist, Dr. Sandeep Shastri tells OneIndia that the alliance may not be counter-productive. If the YRS Congress and TRS can bag 30 out of the 42 seats in both states, then they would be a major player.

He feels that this alliance is like a BJP-Akali Dal combination in Punjab, where both parties fight on independent issues. While in the Telangana state polls, the sentiment may have worked against the TDP-Congress, the case may not be similar in the Lok Sabha elections, Dr. Shastri feels. In the LS polls the parties would raise larger issues, he also says.