Date:31/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/31/stories/2008073155600600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

No scope for grand alliance: CPI

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India State Council does not see any scope for the formation of a “grand alliance” of all the Opposition parties, to defeat the Congress in the next elections.

“A grand alliance is possible only when there is scope for a one-to-one contest. But, there is a special combination of political parties in the State and the divergent stands taken by different political parties will make the proposed grand alliance an impractical one,” CPI State secretary K. Narayana said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Pressures

According to him, parties like the BJP and the TRS were pulling in different directions, while the position of the new party to be launched by film star Chiranjeevi, T. Devender Goud’s Nava Telangana Praja Party and Lok Satta was not clear. This left room for multi-cornered contests. “In this backdrop, thinking about a grand alliance will only be a figment of imagination and has no political basis,” he said.

Dr. Narayana said the State’s political spectrum was set to witness “unexpected developments” in the next two months once Chiranjeevi launches his party. A realignment of political forces would take place and the latest developments brightened the scope for an anti-Congress and anti-TDP alternative with support from new parties entering the scene, said the CPI leader who has been advocating an alliance with Chiranjeevi’s party.

‘No truck with Congress’

Replying to queries, he ruled out truck with the Congress in the elections. The CPI had its own reservations against the TDP, but “anything can happen” depending on the situation during the elections.

He criticised the Congress for its tirade against the Opposition’s efforts to join forces and wondered why the Congress was “scared” of the alliance when it was confident of the development works it had taken up. It was unfortunate that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy trained his guns on the Left claiming that the parties would like their wards to study and work in the U.S., but were opposed to the U.S. here.

“It is nothing but hitting below the belt. We are not against the U.S. or its people. We have been opposing the imperialist policies adopted by its leaders.”