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Telugu Desam, TRS coming together?

HYDERABAD: When the United Progressive Alliance government seeks a trust vote in the Lok Sabha on July 22, the Andhra Pradesh rivals, Telugu Desam Party and Telangana Rashtra Samithi, will in all likelihood find themselves on the same side voting against it.

Their possible coming together, in a foe-turned-friend phenomenon, could herald a realignment in the State. Till just the other day, both parties lost no opportunity to sling mud at each other in public. The TDP alleged that the TRS, along with the Congress, “betrayed” the people of Telangana. The TRS would accuse the TDP of neglecting the region during its nine-year rule.

It is not yet official but both parties have been throwing enough hints of moving closer for some time now especially after the byelections in 16 Assembly and four Lok Sabha constituencies and after the senior Telangana leader, T. Devender Goud, quit the TDP.

Both TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu and TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao were reportedly in touch on the phone.

Both parties now seem to realise that their combined strength could be formidable in Telangana, going by their vote share in the recent byelections. Senior TDP leaders E. Dayakar Rao, K. Srihari and M. Jaganadham have come up with the calculation that the alliance, if it comes through, will have the potential of winning over 100 Assembly seats in the region in the 2009 elections.

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