N Chandrababu Naidu not to ally with Congress for Andhra Pradesh elections
Hyderabad: The alliance between the Congress and the Telugu Desam has come to an end after just one election. With neither party benefiting from the alliance during the recent Telangana state Assembly elections, they have reportedly decided to go on their own in the ensuing Assembly elections in AP. In Telangana, too, the alliance may end.
AP Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu met Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to Delhi and according to sources, they discussed the alliance in the Lok Sabha and AP Assembly elections which will be held simultaneously.
Mr Naidu reportedly told Mr Gandhi that the TD would support the Congress in national politics but would have no truck with it in the AP Assembly or Lok Sabha elections. Cong-ress leaders are of the view that their party did not do well in the recent Telangana state Assem-bly elections because of the alliance with the TD as the electorate could not accept an alliance between parties that had been rivals for 35 years.
TD leaders believe the the people of AP are still angry at the Congress for permitting the bifurcation of the state. So when Mr Naidu said recently that “According to people’s opinion, we will decide about the alliance,” it has been taken to mean that there will not be an alliance for the upcoming elections.
A senior leader of the AP Congress, who is close to the party high command, also confirmed that the Congr-ess and the TD would not have an alliance in the forthcoming simultaneous elections.
APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy said that in both Congress and TD, there are two opinions about the alliance. “We have left the decision to the high command on this issue; on January 20, the high command will announce its opinion on alliance with other parties across the country,” he said.
Mr Gandhi also reportedly indicated to his party leaders in both Telugu states that there would be no alliance with the TD in the coming elections.
