HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday made it clear that the Congress will continue its electoral understanding with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Left parties for the coming panchayat elections also.

While the understanding reached between the parties at the State level before the Assembly elections would be in place, the Congress had authorised its district and local-level leaders to take a final decision on tie-ups, he said.

In-depth study

In an informal chat with reporters after a teleconference with Ministers, senior party functionaries and MLAs as part of preparations for the panchayat elections, Dr. Reddy said the local leadership would assess the situation in its respective areas before reaching an understanding with these parties.

To a question on the remarks made by Union Minister and chairman of the UPA sub-committee Pranab Mukherjee that he (Dr. Reddy) was against the formation of separate Telangana, the Chief Minister refused to comment on the ground that a final decision on the issue would be taken by AICC president Sonia Gandhi. While the Congress had asked its leaders and cadre not to speak about the Telangana issue as it had been left to Ms. Gandhi, it would be appropriate for TRS leaders to do the same.

Earlier, Dr. Reddy enquired about the party's situation in Krishna and East and West Godavari districts. As usual, the teleconference commenced with the first call to Mines and Geology Minister P. Sabitha Reddy, who is also in-charge of East Godavari district. Dr. Reddy wanted party leaders to concentrate on districts like Ranga Reddy and East Godavari where the Congress lost narrowly to the Telugu Desam during the previous elections.

Call to leaders

He wanted leaders to visit villages and inspect the implementation of programmes like Indiramma to ensure that house site pattas, old-age pensions and other benefits reached genuine beneficiaries. While sarpanches and other village-level functionaries worked hard for the victory of Congress MLAs, it was now the turn of the latter to work for the party's victory at the grassroot level, he said.

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