HYDERABAD: An electoral alliance between the BJP and the TDP has been finalised but the announcement will wait for the visit of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to the Seemandhra region, sources in both the parties told TOI.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu confirmed the alliance to his party workers at a meeting last week, but his cadre told him that post bifurcation, the BJP has a 'negative' image in the Seemandhra region. This in view of the opposition party's support to the formation of Telangana.

"Hence, Naidu wants to wait for Modi to visit the region and offer sops to the people. We are hoping that the BJP's prime ministerial candidate would be able to neutralise the negative image the party has in the region and win over the people with his charisma. Once that is done, we will announce the alliance," high-level TDP sources confirmed to TOI.

Modi is expected to tour the Seemandhra region between March 20 and May 2 and is likely to address public meetings in Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Anantapur. "Modi will assure the people that the NDA government will ensure that the Seemandhra region is given priority on the issue of development and that funds will not be a constraint to build the new state," said the sources.

By striking an alliance, both the parties expect to benefit electorally. For the TDP, the minor percentage of captive votes that the BJP has in the region would give it an edge in the triangular fight involving it, the YSR Congress and the Congress. "If the BJP votes gets transferred to the TDP, then we will emerge as the single largest party in the region", TDP analysts said.

For the BJP, the alliance should help it gain a few seats in Seemandhra. In the 1999 polls, the BJP in alliance with the TDP had won 7 Lok Sabha seats, its best performance in the state so far, and garnered 4 per cent votes in the assembly elections. Together, the two parties expect to improve their performances in the urban areas like Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Kakinada.

