TALKS AT TEA TABLE: TRS leader and Union Minister A. Narendra and APCC president K. Keshava Rao at the final round of talks on seat-sharing in local body elections at the latter's house on Friday.- Photo: MohD. Yousuf

HYDERABAD : Union Minister for Rural Development A. Narendra has said that there is no hitch in allotment of 70 to 75 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the tie-up with Congress for local body polls.

"The position is clear about 70 to 75 ZPTCs while we are continuing talks with Congress for a few more seats", Mr. Narendra, who is leading the TRS in negotiations, told a news conference here on Friday. He later visited the residence of APCC president K. Keshav Rao for the final round of talks on seat-sharing.

Objective

He said the TRS was forging alliance with Congress with the objective of ensuring that there was no split in anti-TDP vote. The alliance was being struck in spite of heartburn to the TRS cadre as which has less number of seats to contest. The party did not wish to cross swords with Congress at this stage when separate Telangana was a clear possibility in the near future.

Referring to the frequent hiccups in seat adjustment with Congress, Mr. Narendra said it was a routine exercise. Nonetheless, both parties were trying to ensure that rebel candidates did not enter the fray. They did not want TDP to win a single seat in Telangana.

Asked whether the political ambitions of TRS cadre had overtaken the demand for separate Telangana, he said the seat-sharing exercise could not be linked to the issue of Statehood. There was a groundswell in support to the demand. He rejected a suggestion that TRS was bargaining for 80-odd seats out of a total of 440 in Telangana with the Congress as its support base had eroded. There was no finality about the figure, he added. Mr. Narendra expressed the hope that the obstacles to the alliance would be removed by Saturday. The rebel party MLAs would have no say in distribution of B-forms to candidates in their respective constituencies, he said in response to their challenge that they could not be overlooked in selection of candidates.

Meanwhile, TRS leaders from Warangal called on Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at his camp office to plead their cause for a better representation to the party in the district in the seat- sharing with Congress.

Dr. Reddy asked AP Congress Committee president K. Keshava Rao to look into their request. Warangal MP Ravindra Naik, Hanamkonda MP D. Vinod Rao and MLA G. Vijayarama Rao were present.

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