The Hindu : Alliance makes Congress ticket aspirants jittery

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Alliance makes Congress ticket aspirants jittery

By W. Chandrakanth

HYDERABAD, MARCH 2. The Congress party here seems to be coming to terms with `coalition reality'. Not used to it earlier, its leaders enthusiastically announced the `seat-sharing arrangement' with the Left parties and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The TRS leader, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, with his firm belief in numerology, made the Congress announce the tie-up without even identifying the seats to be shared, triggering a controversy in the other party. Congress leaders, with markedly long innings, are rattled by the prospect of losing out the race to a rank newcomer or disgruntled elements who had crossed over to the TRS bandwagon.

More galling is the prospect of having to work for their foes now. Several Congress aspirants in Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Medak districts face a new identity crisis. Senior leaders like J. Geeta Reddy, apprehending denial of ticket as fallout of the tie-up with the TRS, has gone to the extent of personally appealing to the TRS president to spare her constituency.

Given its limitations, the TRS chief too is in a tight spot now. The tie-up has brightened the prospects of the alliance candidates and hence, there is an intense competition among ticket-seekers. Some Congress leaders' woes have also been compounded by the refusal of a handful of senior leaders to vacate their seats in the larger interest of the party and the "Telangana sentiment" as has been maintained by them till the other day.

There is a strong resentment against the perceived PCC effort in seeking `scapegoats' to protect those who talked tall about sacrifices and were now reluctant to make them.

Another hiccup for the Congress will be the demand of the Left parties to ensure a fair play after the comrades arrive at an understanding with the Congress. Their apprehensions take root in the ambiguity over the TRS attitude towards them. The `blow hot, blow cold' affirmations of TRS leaders on and off over fielding contestants in the arena left for the communist parties, particularly the CPI(M), are cause for this concern.

Will the triangular arrangement come through in the eventuality of such a development?

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh