The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) withdrew from the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.
N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the President of the TDP, on the 25th of March, announced, the Party will not contest the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.
The Party said, they don’t want to help the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by dividing the votes of the Indian National Congress (INC.)
The TDP leaders also stated, the TRS always wanted to keep the TDP out of Telangana and make sure the TDP does not exist in Telangana.
Another reason cited for the withdrawal was the decreasing number of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs,) as many TDP members recently switched to the TRS.
Approximately 8 members of the TDP and the INC in Telangana switched to the TRS to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, following which, the TDP became weak in the State.
The TDP formed an alliance with the INC and contested the Assembly elections in Telangana, which were held on the 7th of December 2018.
The alliance of the TDP and the INC won a total of 19 seats out of the 119 Assembly seats. As of now, the MLA strength of the alliance of the TDP and INC is 11.
Telangana will contest a total of 17 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on the 11th of April.
The major parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections are the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the TRS.
The TRS stands as the strongest Party in the State, with approximately 99 MLAs.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Lok Sabha elections.
