The political scene in Andhra Pradesh took an interesting turn on Tuesday with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti deciding to join the Grand Alliance comprising the Telugu Desam Party, the Communist Party of India - Marxist and the Communist Party of India.
Upbeat over the dramatic display of bonhomie by TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao and Chandrababu Naidu, who visited each other's residences on Tuesday evening, the alliance was already talking of sweeping the coming elections and ousting the 'corrupt' Congress government in the state.
The TRS chief has forgotten his past bitterness against the TDP-Left alliance, while the TDP has reversed its earlier anti-Telangana stand and declared its support for the creation of the state.
The four parties also filed a petition to President Pratibha Patil in Hyderabad against the alleged corruption and irregularities in the state, involving six ministers in the state government.
Rao and Naidu will issue a joint political statement after the Sankaranti festival on January 14.
"I am very happy to meet Naidu again," Rao said, recalling that he had worked in the TDP for over 20 years. "Now the time has come for both the TDP and TRS to work together," he said. Rao exuded confidence that the alliance will defeat the Congress in the next assembly elections.
When queried about him teaming up with the Communist Party of India Marxist, which was not in favour of the creation of Telangana, Rao said, "CPM leader Prakash Karat told me recently in New Delhi that the party will revise its stand on the issue.".
In another indication that the formation of the Grand Alliance was imminent, Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday told his party leaders and workers to be ready to make sacrifices for seat adjustments, with other partners in the alliance.
"We are going to sweep the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Except five or six seats, we are going to sweep all the assembly seats in Telangana," he said. The region has 119 assembly seats.
But reaching a seat sharing agreement will not be a smooth affair for the partners. TRS wants the lion's share of both the assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Telangana region, but the TDP is unlikely to yield to its demands.
The Congress is still confident about winning in Telangana. "We are going to win at least 75 assembly seats in the region," said T Jeevan Reddy, a senior minister from the region.
The Grand Alliance is also likely to affect the chances of mega star Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party.
