Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Winning chances main criteria for poll tie-ups

HYDERABAD: Electoral considerations appear to be overriding political and ideological convictions of several parties as they dilute their stand on issues on which they never budged earlier, in their anxiety to forge poll alliances.

Parties realise that pre-poll alliances will influence, as never before, the post-election scenario in the State. In these political engagements, the TRS and the TDP are emerging as the prima donnas, an acknowledgement that the results in the Telangana region will finally decide who will form the government.

Two developments recently have partly cleared the confusion that prevailed last month about political alliances following the flurry of activity in the Opposition camp. The first was Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s admission that the Congress would fight the elections on its own and the second was the resolve expressed by the CPI (M) and the TRS to work together for the Congress’ defeat. These were significant indications of the Assembly elections turning out to be a three-cornered. What shape this ongoing polarisation in the non-Congress camp will take is still a matter of speculation because of the two key players in this contest – Praja Rajyam (PR) and the Telugu Desam.

The fledgling PR remains cagey about its plans and often issues more denials than pro-active statements while the TDP has not emerged from the seemingly endless throes on separate Telangana. But, soon the TDP will abandon the fundamental stand taken by its founders for an integrated State.

Every political party is talking to the other, some on the sly with erstwhile foes and the others openly. The bottomline of these parleys can be encapsulated as – Telangana parties must come together in the elections; those who are not votaries of statehood for the region too must join a larger alliance and; their common goal should be to defeat the Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress Government.

Quite interestingly, the roots of this polarisation are traceable to some extent to the voting on the no confidence motion in Parliament after the Left withdrew support to the UPA Government on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. Even the CPI, that was an enthusiastic supporter of the Congress in the State, has turned against it.

Judging by the parties’ preferences, the alliances will have constituents who could never be imagined as friends earlier. For instance, the CPI (M), whose view on Telangana is diametrically opposite to that of the TRS is talking to it as also to the TDP with whom it had been ideologically the farthest for the latter’s pursuit of neo-liberal economic policies.

TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu shed his long-standing anathema to the TRS and its president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and is holding discussions through informal channels on seat sharing. This friendship is a realisation of the fact that a TDP-TRS-Left alliance will be a formidable combination to beat in Telangana judging by their vote share in the previous elections.

The CPI, a party that is ideologically closest to the CPI (M), disagrees with the Marxists over friendships and wants an alliance with the Praja Rajyam at the State level and Telugu Desam at the national level. It betrayed its desperation when it suggested that the TDP and PR forge an alliance and share power for two and a half years each!

In spite of the unpredictability of the poll results, particularly because, for the first time, the contests will be three-cornered everywhere, one has to hand it to the Congress, TDP and PR leaders for the confidence they exude. Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy says the Congress’ tally will be nothing short of 230, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu is already speaking of the minutiae of his programmes after becoming Chief Minister while Mr. Chiranjeevi refuses to acknowledge that there is any alternative to him!

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