In a significant political moment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu shared a warm embrace after the Telugu leader was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time this morning. The embrace symbolized the formation of a coalition government between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the southern state.
The swearing-in ceremony, attended by several cabinet colleagues of PM Modi including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, and JP Nadda, marked a new chapter in Andhra Pradesh politics. The BJP had allied with the TDP, led by Mr. Naidu, and Telugu star Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena for the elections. Mr. Kalyan also took oath as a minister during the ceremony.
The alliance’s landslide victory in both the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections and the simultaneous Lok Sabha polls solidified their position in the state. Together, they secured 164 out of the total 175 seats in the Andhra Assembly, with the TDP winning 135 seats, Jana Sena securing 21, and the BJP clinching eight seats.
On the national stage, the alliance secured 21 out of Andhra’s 25 Lok Sabha seats, significantly weakening the incumbent YSR Congress Party. The inclusion of the TDP in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was crucial for the BJP to form a coalition government at the center, given its shortfall in the majority mark of 272. In the Modi 3.0 cabinet, the TDP has been allocated a cabinet berth and a Minister of State post.
The alliance between the BJP and TDP, renewed just before the elections, marked Mr. Naidu’s return to the NDA after a six-year hiatus. The TDP’s previous association with the NDA ended in 2018 when Mr. Naidu, then the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, decided to withdraw over concerns regarding financial support for the state.
