BJP plans to go it alone in AP

BY VENKAT PARSA

New Delhi

July 29: Former Union minister and senior Andhra Pradesh BJP leader Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Tuesday said the party plans to go it alone in Andhra Pradesh. The state BJP will soon finalise its list of candidates for the Assembly and parliamentary elections as simultaneous polls are expected to take place in early 2009. Mr Vidyasagar Rao said the state unit’s decision is to go it alone, but if the BJP Central leadership decides otherwise, then it would be binding on the state unit. As of now, the BJP is looking at post-poll tieups.

During the general elections in 1998, Mr Vidyasagar Rao secured the letter of support from TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu and passed it on to Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who in turn submitted it to the President, which brought clear majority to the Vajpayee government. In fact, even after AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa handed over the letter of her party support, the NDA was 253 and 19 short of an absolute majority, which was covered with Mr Chandrababu Naidu deciding to support the BJP. "The Andhra Pradesh BJP is set to play a similar decisive role in the general elections in 2009 in making Mr L.K. Advani the Prime Minister," Mr Vidyasagar Rao said.

The Sankalp Sabhas held in all the three regions of Andhra Pradesh — Rayalaseema, Andhra and Telangana — by the BJP has given hope to the party that it can win a sizeable number of seats. In 1999, the BJP won seven parliamentary seats and in eight others, the party did creditably well.

The BJP intends to concentrate on these 15 seats for the coming parliamentary and Assembly elections.