Even as the ruling coalition partners are struggling to strike a deal on seat-sharing for the upcoming local body elections in Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu appears to be trying every trick to pamper Jana Sena Party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
On the occasion of the launch of Palle Panduga 3.0 in Nellore district on Tuesday, Naidu went out of his way to praise Pawan Kalyan and publicly acknowledge his efforts in Panchayat Raj and rural development.
Naidu said Pawan Kalyan was the principal driving force behind the coalition government's rural development agenda.
He said the government had already completed two editions of Palle Panduga and was now moving into the third phase under Pawan Kalyan's leadership.
He described Pawan's work in the villages as being carried out with an “activist spirit” and publicly congratulated him for the initiatives undertaken through the Panchayat Raj Department.
Naidu said Pawan had brought about a transformation in villages and had “left his mark” on rural development under the coalition government.
He recalled the simultaneous conduct of gram sabhas in all 13,326 gram panchayats and credited the Panchayat Raj leadership with pushing several development initiatives.
He credited Pawan with taking the villages towards development and said the coalition government was implementing its promises at “jet speed”.
The unusually generous praise for Pawan assumes significance at a time when the distribution of local body seats among the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and BJP has become a subject of discussion within the alliance.
Jana Sena Party leaders have already made it clear that the 2024 Assembly election seat-sharing formula will not automatically apply to the local polls and that the party wants to contest seats where it has a strong organisational presence.
Pawan Kalyan also said at a party meeting that he had made significant sacrifices in the 2024 Assembly elections to ensure the NDA's victory and that the party would seek opportunities for its grassroots cadre in areas where it has organisational strength.
This has created a politically sensitive situation for the TDP, the largest component of the alliance, as the three parties work out a formula for the local polls.
Naidu himself has recently asked the ruling alliance to maintain unity and coordination ahead of the elections. He directed district in-charge ministers to strengthen coordination among the TDP, Jana Sena and BJP and work for the success of alliance candidates.
