Andhra: Parties trying all formulae to forge alliance for LS polls

Hyderabad, March 15: Political parties in Andhra Pradesh are still working on various permutations and combinations to firm up alliances ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Though there is lot of kite-flying over various 'possibilities', nothing concrete has emerged as yet on the prospective poll tie-ups.

The Congress high command may be inclined to forge a tie-up with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti to take political advantage of the situation in Telangana, but the ruling party leaders from the region are firmly against it.

Cong may forge a tie-up with the TRS to take political advantage of Telangana.

The Telangana Congress leaders, during a meeting with AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh here in the last two days, stressed that the party would do well even without a truck with the TRS.

They cited the findings of a recent survey conducted by a national agency for a Telugu news channel that showed Congress securing 55-60 Assembly seats in Telangana and the TRS 40-45.

"We will emerge as the single largest party and closer to the half-way mark. So there is no need to depend on TRS," Telangana Congress leaders are believed to have told Digvijay.

The TRS, which refused to merge with the Congress and also remained non-committal on an electoral alliance, is keeping its options open of a possible tie-up with the BJP.

If not a pre-poll alliance, the TRS would like to have a post-poll pact with the BJP, hoping that the latter would get to form the next government at the Centre.

Interestingly, the Left parties CPI and CPM are seeking to align with the TRS in the region.

"If the TRS comes out with a concrete plan for development of Telangana, we may have a truck with it," CPM's newly-formed Telangana unit secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said.

On its part, the TRS has not spoken anything openly yet on electoral alignments and is keeping everyone guessing.

There were reports that the TRS was also interested in joining hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, that has a strong presence in Hyderabad and is seeking to spread its wings in other parts of the state as well.

The TRS aside, all the other parties do not gel with one another and that puts a big question mark on the eventual alliance, if any.

Many see the coming together of the Telugu Desam Party and the BJP as "inevitability" but so far the two sides have remained evasive on the subject.

Speculation, however, continues about the realignment of the old friends.

After the AP Reorganisation Bill was cleared by Parliament, there was opposition in Seemaandhra to the alliance between the two parties.

But that seemed to have fizzled out now, as the TDP "reconciled" to the reality.

TDP sources indicated that some clarity might be forthcoming on the issue in the next few days.

Meanwhile, only the CPI and the CPM have forged a tie-up for elections to the Urban Local Bodies in the state slated for March 30.

All other parties are fighting the ULB polls independently.

PTI