India Today’s ‘Mood of the Nation’ survey has predicted a comeback of N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. As per the survey, out of the 25 seats, the TDP is predicted to win 17, and the YSRCP is expected to retain the remaining eight seats. In 2019, Jagan’s party won 22 out of the 25 seats. The TDP, which has already announced its alliance with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, is further making efforts to reach out to the BJP and become part of the National Democratic Alliance.
In 2014, Chandrababu Naidu formed the government in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the BJP and JSP. However, in 2018, just a year before the Assembly elections, he walked out of the BJP alliance, accusing the BJP-led Union government of not providing Special Category Status to the state under the AP Reorganisation Act.
In complete contrast to India Today’s predictions, Times Now’s survey projected that the YSRCP would win 19 seats, whereas the TDP-JSP alliance would win six seats.
The BJP and the Congress continue to be a non-entity in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress party faced a rout in the 2014 elections after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated. However, after the Congress party formed the government in Telangana recently, they made immediate efforts to revive the party by appointing YS Sharmila as the president of the Andhra Pradesh unit. Sharmila is the daughter of late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and sister of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. As Jagan sidelined Sharmila from YSRCP, she launched a new party in Telangana. The party has now been merged with the Congress.
Meanwhile, India Today has predicted that the DMK-Congress alliance will make a clean sweep in Tamil Nadu by winning all the 39 Lok Sabha seats.