Telangana polls: 2019 in mind, will the Congress give TDP the larger pie

Hyderabad, Sep 12: The Telangana Telugu Desam Party and the Congress seemed to have agreed in principle to fight the elections together in a bid to defeat the TRS. With the CPI too on board, the big question now is who will be the lead partner in case this alliance does win the Telangana assembly elections 2018.

For now the prime focus of the opposition in the state is to unite the opposition. Rahul Gandhi had spoken about a broad-based alliance and going by the developments in Telangana, it appears as though the planning is going well into 2019.

According to R C Khuntia, who is in-charge of Congress affairs in Telangana, the party was not averse to entering into a tie up with the TDP. He also cited the Karnataka example where the party gave up the chief minister's post despite it being the largest party. He said that this was in line with its efforts in the national level to unite the opposition.

The statements indicate that the Congress could let go of the CM's post to the TDP in case it comes to power in Telangana. The Congress has been experimenting in various states and has very often let go of the pie despite it being in a better position.

Analysts tell OneIndia that the planning in the state elections must be seen in the context of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The opposition is coming together to take on the BJP and the Congress does not want to play second fiddle in any such coalition.

There would be several key players in the opposition in 2019. Chandrababu Naidu, M K Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, just to name a few. The likes of Sharad Pawar who is also a key player had indirectly hinted that Rahul Gandhi would not be able to steer the ship. The opinion is similar among the other leaders within the opposition as well.

With the scheme of things being such, the Congress would be ready to give up the pie in the state levels, while demanding a better deal in the national level.

Khuntia goes on to add,"this is only the preliminary stage. We have not discussed seat sharing. But we are formulating a broad-based alliance, including the TDP also, on the basis of the Common Minimum Programme."

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy has already urged all political parties, including TDP and non-political forces, to join hands with Congress to 'end the misrule' of TRS in the state. "There can only be TRS and anti-TRS blocks (other BJP) in the state," Khuntia claimed. On how Congress would justify an alliance with TDP, which has always been opposed to it, he said Congress does not harbour any bitter feelings towards the TDP.