Date:04/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/04/stories/2007030411450400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Council polls: TRS `gifts' Congress a problem

Special Correspondent

Congress will feel the pinch as TRS leaves decision on tie-ups to local leaders

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) decision to leave the issue of tie-ups for the Council elections to the local leadership has queered the pitch, financially, for the Congress candidates.

There are about 900 votes on an average in each Local Authorities' Constituency (LAC).

Voters' demands

Those selected by their respective parties to contest the elections under the LACs quota cannot afford to ignore the voters' demands. The absence of a rule or law limiting expenditure by the candidates is also not a good sign for the contenders.

No smooth sailing?

"If the TRS were to declare openly its support to us, we could have had a smooth sailing. The expenditure would have certainly come down. Now that it says that the local leadership could decide on the issue, the voters are making impossible demands," a Congress candidate from Warangal, G. Venkataramana Reddy adds.