The Hindu : TDP first list likely on March 17

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

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

TDP first list likely on March 17

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, MARCH 2. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is likely to release the first list of its candidates for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections on March 17.

Party sources said the presidents of all district units and other important leaders would be invited here for another round of consultations about candidates from March 11 to 16. The TDP president, N. Chandrababu Naidu, had held extensive discussions a fortnight ago with these leaders about the probable nominees.

Mr. Naidu is expected to visit Tirupati on March 10 to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara before plunging into the election campaign. He is hopeful of sealing an understanding on seat sharing with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by then.

The BJP State president, N. Indrasena Reddy, confirmed earlier in the day that the alliance with the TDP would be finalised by March 10. The party's national general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, is expected to lead his party in the negotiations with the Telugu Desam.

Meanwhile, the TDP continued to admit into the party fold former bureaucrats and retired police officers. Among them was the former SP, K. Rajaiah, who was in the thick of a controversy over the killing of a journalist, Ghulam Rasool, in an alleged encounter on the City outskirts when he was DSP of Saroornagar. Over a thousand followers of Mr. Rajaiah and others flocked the TDP office this evening.

The TDP took exception to certain remarks reportedly made by the TRS president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, against Mr. Naidu and urged him to desist from the "persistent vilification campaign.'' Talking to reporters, Kadiam Srihari and N. Janardhan Reddy, both Ministers, also said the Congress-TRS alliance in Telangana region lacked credibility. Congress leaders were "misleading'' people about this tie-up by stating separate Telangana was not an issue in the elections and that they stood for integration of the State, they added.

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