A coordination committee with members from both parties would be constituted to take care of the election campaign.
Published Nov 06, 2023 | 7:26 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 06, 2023 | 7:26 PM
Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy on the campaign trail. (X)
The Congress and the CPI have sealed the deal. The CPI — which began negotiations with the demand for five seats — will contest the Telangana Assembly elections only from one seat, Kothagudem. For not insisting on more seats, the Congress would compensate it with two MLC seats after the election.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy, after holding talks with the Left leaders on Monday, 7 November, announced that they had arrived at an agreement.
He said he wanted the CPI to be in the Assembly. “The Congress will support CPI’s nominee in Kothagudem,” he said, adding that a Coordination Committee with members from both parties would be constituted to take care of the campaign.
Revanth Reddy said the CPI has decided to walk with the Congress in its fight against the BJP.
“The CPI leaders understood the pressure under which we were working and consented to contest only from Kothagudem,” he said.
“The engagement took place about a month back. The muhurat for the wedding has been finalised now. Our only aim is to free Telangana from the stranglehold of KCR. The BRS, BJP, and AIMIM are on the same page. The reason for not arresting KCR’s daughter in Delhi liquor scam can easily be found in this understanding,” CPI national secretary K Narayana said.
The CPI and the CPI(M) initially demanded five seats each, but later came down to two each. However, the stalemate continued in selecting the seats. The CPI finally agreed to settle for one seat.
However, the CPI(M) announced that it would fight the polls alone.
It released a list of candidates for 14 seats, which included the party’s state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram (Palair), and senior leader Julakanti Rangareddy (Mirayalaguda).
The two Left parties looked up at the Congress after the BRS ditched them, ignoring their role in helping the ruling party win the Munugode by-election last November.
The BRS had then, in the face of an aggressive BJP led by Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, wobbled and sought support from all quarters.
Since the Left parties have a good following in the constituency, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao sought their help and won the seat by a majority of about 10,000 votes.
But the BRS chief went ahead and announced candidates for 115 of the 119 Assembly seats. Feeling betrayed, the two Left parties turned to the Congress, their ally in the larger national Opposition INDIA bloc.
With the problem of seat-sharing ending on a happy note, the Congress is expected to finalise its candidates for the remaining 18 seats for which names are yet to be announced.
As part of its negotiations with the Congress, the CPI(M) wanted Miryalaguda and Wyra. Though the Congress was willing to cede Miryalaguda, it was not agreeable about Wyra. With no solution in sight, the CPI(M) called off the negotiations.
With nominations opening on 3 November, the CPI(M) warned the Congress that it would go it alone, and followed up on the threat on Sunday by announcing candidates for 14 seats.
CPI(M) state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram had announced: “The CPI had decided to fight the elections in alliance with the Congress, but we are going it alone as the talks with the grand old party failed on seat-sharing.
“In some segments, we will support the party that can defeat the BJP. We will not contest where the CPI is in the fray. Our main objective is to defeat the communal BJP,” he said.
