This will be the first joint rally after TDP returned to BJP-led NDA fold.
The NDA will hold its first joint rally in Chilakaluripet in Andhra Pradesh on March 17 after the TDP rejoined the alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena supremo Pawan Kalyan will be sharing the dais for the first time in a decade.
The TDP, upbeat with the tripartite alliance, is preparing to hold the first rally at a grand scale and turning it into a show of strength, especially after the YSRCP’s recent mega rally.
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A coordination committee has been set up with the representatives of all three parties to oversee the preparations.
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The last time all three leaders – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan had shared the dais was in 2014, a decade ago.
The alliance had won the election but Naidu left the NDA in 2018, miffed over the special status that was promised to Andhra Pradesh but remained undelivered.
He lost the elections and immediately afterwards wanted to return to the NDA but was thwarted by the BJP.
His return to the NDA came at a massive cost since the TDP had to cede six Lok Sabha seats to the BJP, which has less than one per cent vote in AP.
However, the TDP leadership is upbeat that the alliance will sweep the state in the upcoming elections.
Following the meeting of the coordination committee, TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh said that those overseeing preparation must ensure that the people participating in the rally should not be inconvenienced since it will be the first and most “prestigious” one after the TDP joined the NDA.
“Lakhs of people are expected to attend the rally and organisers should ensure it is recorded in history,” said Lokesh.
A day after the alliance was forged, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had held a mega rally, which the YSRCP claimed was attended by 15 lakh people. Reddy had said the rival alliance has only leaders since the people are with him.
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