AP Polls: Absence of Modi’s picture on TDP-Jana Sena manifesto stirs speculation

Vijayawada: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture absent from the cover page of the TDP-JSP alliance manifesto has raised eyebrows in the political circles of Andhra Pradesh. The cover page has the images of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan.

The Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party alliance released its election manifesto for the 2024 AP State Assembly and Parliament elections, at the Chandrababu Naidu’s residence in Undavalli on Tuesday.

As part of their alliance, the TDP is contesting in 144 Assembly constituencies and 17 Lok Sabha seats, while the Jana Sena and BJP are contesting 31 Assembly and seven Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming elections.

‘Not associated with state-level manifestos’

It was anticipated that the manifesto would be jointly prepared by the three parties under the alliance. However, the BJP opted not to associate with the manifesto even as BJP AP unit in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh clarified that the BJP has released its NDA manifesto at the country level and is not associated with the manifestos at the state level.

Political opponents of the NDA alliance, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) alleged that the BJP has distanced itself from the alliance manifesto because the saffron party leadership is well aware that Chandrababu is known for ‘making tall promises before every election and ignoring them after coming to power.’

It is also being assumed that as the responsibility of extending financial assistance to Andhra Pradesh if the NDA alliance forms the government in the state lies on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the BJP opted out to be part of the manifesto.