Telugu Desam, Janasena, and Bharatiya Janatha Party are allying again a decade after the thumping win in the 2014 election. BJP senior Somu Veerraju said the alliance could be made public by the end of February. As a matter of course, when three parties are involved in an alliance, the seat-sharing understanding could take a lot of time as there will be internal rumbling for certain seats that will be wanted by 2 or even three parties. This results in a delay in the finalization of the candidates and subsequent public announcement.
On the other side, YCP has nearly confirmed its candidates for all the assembly and parliament constituencies and Jagan is saying 'Siddham' for polls. This is exerting additional pressure on the alliance to fast-track their candidates locking and announcement. A few people are even writing off the alliance by saying that these parties are not even able to lock the candidates and questioning how they can face astoundingly aggressive YS Jagan.
But the fundamental point here is that the alliance can't be underestimated solely based on the delay in candidates' announcement. Even in 2014, TDP, Janasena, and BJP were in opposition positions and the alliance announced its candidates only 20 days before the polling. The only thing that has changed now is that YCP has announced its candidates much in advance. However, the triangular alliance is still following its old track by taking the desired time on the candidates' announcement.
2014 election results showed that the delay in candidates' announcement will not have any impact on polling patterns as even with the delay, the alliance came to power then. It is more about getting combinations and candidates' equations right, rather than announcing the candidates in a hurry. A senior observer commented that there might be anxiousness from certain followers of the alliance due to the delay but it is important to trust in the process as there are three parties involved this time and finding common ground will naturally take its own time.
