Those who cite 2004 'electoral hara-kiri' by the BJP of Vajpayee-Advani era when Congress could bounce back to power, will do well to realise that there is a big difference between that period and the contemporary setting under Modi-Amit Shah duo.
The saffron party has been working hard to expand the NDA for some time trying to win over allies as it eyes a bigger victory -- 400 plus - in the Lok Sabha polls.
With the ruling party eyeing a third term under PM Modi and having set a target for winning 370 seats on its own and 400 with allies, there is a view within the BJP that joining hands with regional parties positively disposed to its agenda will be helpful.
The meeting between Amit Shah and TDP supremo and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on March 7 evening therefore assumes a special significance.
Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats and the BJP is keen to contest eight to 10 parliamentary constituencies with 'confidence' of chances of victory. The Lotus party has never won a seat in the state even as it has done pretty well in nearby Telangana.
Sources in the TDP, however, said the BJP might contest on five to six Lok Sabha seats in case of an alliance, the Jana Sena three and their party the rest.
There are a few complexities as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the president of the YSR Congress Party, has been unambiguously supportive of the Modi government in Parliament. Jagan also shares a good personal rapport with senior leaders and top ministers in the centre. In August during the No Trust motion also, the YSRCP was the first party that came forward extending support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Actor Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party, which has been a member of the NDA, has already joined hands with the TDP and has been urging the BJP to follow suit.
Mr Kalyan also joined the meeting with Shah. Earlier, Naidu met with leaders, including MPs, of the TDP. The development comes amid growing indications that the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal, which is in power in Odisha, are on the verge of finalising their alliance as senior leaders of the two parties held separate meetings on Wednesday and dropped hints of such a possibility.
Mr Naidu had met Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda in February, bolstering a speculation that they were headed for an alliance.
The TDP was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance but exited in 2018 when Mr Naidu was the state's chief minister. In Odisha, the BJP is likely to work on an alliance with BJD of Naveen Patnaik. The Biju Janata Dal had quit NDA on the eve of 2009 Lok Sabha polls when L K Advani was BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
In the context of Odisha, the BJD leaders conducted a prolonged meeting at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, while BJP leaders held a similar session in the national capital, discussing election-related matters, including the prospect of forming an alliance.
Following a meeting chaired by BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi, senior BJP leader and MP Jual Oram admitted to discussions on a pre-poll alliance with the BJD. However, he clarified that the party's central leadership would make the final decision on the matter.
"Yes, there were discussions on the alliance among other issues. The party's central leadership will make the final call," Oram, who personally opposed the alliance said.
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