Vijayawada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with Jana Sena leader Nadendla Manohar and Andhra Pradesh BJP president P.V.N. Madhav at his Undavalli residence on Monday to discuss seat-sharing and coordination among NDA allies for the upcoming local body elections.

Though no official statement was released on the discussions, sources said the leaders deliberated on seat allocation following the state government’s notification announcing reservations for Scheduled Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Backward Classes (BCs) and women for the posts of mayors in 17 municipal corporations and chairpersons in 106 municipalities and nagar panchayats.

Jana Sena and the BJP have reportedly submitted lists of seats they seek based on their respective strengths. The alliance leaders are understood to have discussed the lists, with an emphasis on allotting seats to candidates considered to have strong electoral prospects, sources said.

With the State Election Commission expected to announce the local body poll schedule, possibly on October 14, the NDA partners are working to finalise their candidates and coordinate their campaign.

The alliance is aiming to improve on its performance in the last Assembly elections, when it won 164 of the 175 seats in Andhra Pradesh, recording a strike rate of about 93 per cent.

Naidu had reportedly told a party election strategy meeting earlier that the alliance would allocate 40 per cent of seats to BCs while safeguarding the interests of SC and ST communities. He had also called for greater coordination among alliance partners to take on the YSRC in the local body polls.