Andhra Pradesh   

Congress, allies reach seat-sharing accord in A.P.

Special Correspondent

Panel to ensure that rebles in the race withdraw

HYDERABAD: Overcoming initial setbacks, the Congress signed a seat-sharing agreement for panchayat raj elections with its allies - CPI and TRS - on Saturday after which all the three parties appealed to their respective candidates who were in the race against official nominees to retire.

The three parties agreed to appoint a coordination committee to ensure that unofficial candidates retired in the 100-odd constituencies where there was a mutual contest.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Keshava Rao and senior TRS leader A. Narendra fine-tuned the accord at the Gandhi Bhavan.

CPI State secretary K. Narayana, who was away in Bellampally, communicated the party's consent for the arrangement.

With minor changes in the seats, both the TRS and the CPI agreed to contest the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) that were allotted to them by the Congress. There was, however, no change in the number of seats they would contest. The TRS was allotted 68 ZPTCs and the CPI 34 in the list released by the Congress on Friday.

The TRS withdrew from Nagnoor, Utnoor and Bhainsa ZPTCs and was allotted Gudihatnoor, Thanoor and Vemanapalli in Adilabad. It also gave up Chityal and claimed Cherial in Warangal. The Congress would contest from all the four places the TRS vacated.

The Congress also persuaded the CPI to withdraw from Yemmiganur in Kurnool and Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna and offered to support candidates of the latter as co-opted members in the Zilla Parishads of the two districts.

Joint campaign

At a joint press conference, Mr. Keshava Rao announced that the parties decided to stick to the list released by the Congress and take up a combined campaign. He described the alliance as the coming together of three secular parties.

The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the leaders of the three parties in arriving at an understanding without getting bogged down in petty considerations.

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