A yatra to gain a foothold in Andhra

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a foothold in Andhra Pradesh through its Atal Modi Suparipalana Yatra, which will cover the entire State with the objective of propagating the “good governance” of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the party shares power in the State with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP), it remains focused on highlighting the achievements of the BJP at the Centre.

Andhra Pradesh has not been a traditional hunting ground for the saffron party, which is trying to make inroads into south India. While the BJP has grown from the grassroots level in neighbouring Telangana, winning a substantial number of MP, MLA, and MLC seats, and even making gains in the ongoing panchayat elections compared to previous years, its performance in Andhra Pradesh can be termed one of “mixed fortune” across different phases.

In the 2014 elections, the first after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, the BJP fought in alliance with the TDP, with outside support from the JSP, and bagged two Lok Sabha seats and four Assembly seats, with a vote share of 7.22% in the Lok Sabha and 4.13% in the Assembly.

All three parties contested the 2019 elections independently. The BJP failed to secure representation in either the State Assembly or the Lok Sabha. Its vote share fell to 0.84% in the Assembly elections and 0.98% in the parliamentary elections.

The party gained considerably in the 2024 elections. Its performance can be attributed to the coalition with the TDP and JSP, which went hammer and tongs against the then Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, as well as to the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP contested 10 Assembly seats and won eight, while it secured three Lok Sabha seats out of the six it contested. Its vote share increased to 11.28% in the Lok Sabha elections and 2.83% in the Assembly elections, from less than 1% in the previous polls.

Subsequently, there was a change of guard in the State party unit, with senior leader and former MLC P.V.N. Madhav taking the reins from Rajamahendravaram MP Daggubati Purandeswari. A section of party leaders believed that the BJP needed to grow on its own strength, starting from the grassroots level.

With a substantial number of MLAs, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, as well as representation in the Union Cabinet from all the three regions of the State, the party leadership wants to take up programmes to spread the message of development under the NDA at both the national and State levels. However, as the BJP is part of the State government — with Satya Kumar Yadav holding the Health and Family Welfare portfolio — it cannot openly raise its voice against any failures of the State government to connect with the people, party leaders said.

The party’s national leadership has reportedly made it clear that it must go hand in hand with the TDP, considering the support the latter is extending to the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. With 16 Lok Sabha seats, the TDP is the second-largest party in the NDA. As the NDA has just 293 MPs, barely above the required 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP is heavily reliant on the TDP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), and does not want to take any step that could endanger the coalition.

The party has chalked out the Atal Modi Suparipalana Yatra, which will cover the entire State in two phases between December 11 and 25, during which statues of Atal Bihari Vajpayee are being unveiled at various places. The yatra, which began at Dharmavaram in Sri Sathya Sai district, will culminate in Amaravati, where a public meeting is planned with the participation of top leaders from the BJP, TDP, and JSP.

The Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States, Union Ministers, and other leaders have been asked to participate in daily meetings, with a specific focus on the development achieved by the State during the Vajpayee and Modi governments. The TDP has also been made a partner in the programme, with its leaders and State Cabinet Ministers participating across districts.

BJP leaders maintained that involving the coalition partner in the yatra was aimed at strengthening ties with the TDP, as its support is crucial for the NDA government at the Centre.