CPI to stay away from Cong, TDP, TRS

Hyderabad, Apr 30 (UNI) The Communist Party of India in Andhra Pradesh will maintain equidistance from the ruling Congress, the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the byelections to the four Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats scheduled for May 29.

Announcing this at a press conference here today, CPI State Secretary K Narayana said the party would contest on its own from Medaram, Huzurabad and Aleru Assembly constituencies and support the CPI(M) wherever it fielded its candidates.

The CPI would support the Lok Satta Party and independents with ''progressive outlook in the byelections caused by en masse resignation of TRS members in protest against delay in grant of statehood for Telangana''.

He dismissed as ''hypothetical'' whether the party was keeping away from mainline parties, expecting launch of political party by Telugu matinee idol Chiranjeevi after the byelections.

Though the CPI was in favour of statehood for Telangana, the party did not want to align with the TRS as it was allegedly whipping up emotions and instigating people.

The party was against aligning with the Congress which was delaying a solution to the Telangana issue. The Congress Government had ''failed'' to curb price rise and was ''insincere'' in distribution of land to the poor, he contended.

The CPI did not want to align with the TDP which it had fought tooth and nail when in power, he added.

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