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Friday, Jul 07, 2006

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Congress under pressure from allies

Special Correspondent

TRS, CPI making bid for securing ZP Chairman posts in three districts

HYDERABAD: The Congress is under pressure from its allies-- the TRS and the CPI-- to allot posts of Zilla Parishad Chairperson in three districts where it has fallen short of a majority on its own.

In Karimnagar and Warangal, the Congress is working out strategies to woo the TRS whose support is critical for winning the ZP chief post. With six ZPTC seats in Karimnagar and three in Warangal in their kitty, TRS leaders are calling the shots and are issuing ultimatums to the APCC to concede their demand.

Simultaneously, the CPI is also making a determined attempt to persuade Congress leaders to concede the Nalgonda ZP Chairman post on the strength of its six ZPTC seats. CPI leaders K. Narayana and Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy met APCC chief K. Keshava Rao to press their demand and also to seek co-option posts for its partymen in other districts.

However, Dr. Rao said the Congress was not sure whether it would oblige the CPI. "We have assured them before the elections that we are prepared to give either Khammam or Nalgonda to the CPI (M). We have not given any pre-poll commitment to others about ZP chief post," he said, and added the party would not be able to spare any ZP to the allies "as of now."

On the TRS demand, he said the party had not received any formal request from it for allotment of ZPs. The TRS is holding an extended executive meeting to decide its course of action.

Meanwhile, with the fate of three ZP chief posts hanging in balance in Karimnagar, Khammam and Warangal, political parties have begun organising camps to stave off attempts by their rivals to woo their newly-elected ZPTC and MPTC members. They began shifting them to `safer' places under proper escort.

The Congress leadership has moved its ZPTC members in Warangal district to Shirdi via Basar in Adilabad district on what Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah chose to describe as "a pilgrimage".

Similarly, ZPTCs in Karimnagar were camping at Rajahmundry en route Visakhapatnam while their Khammam counterparts are understood to have been stationed at an undisclosed location in Kurnool.

Fearing poaching by the rival Congress, the TDP too shifted its flock in "vulnerable" places like Khammam and Mahabubnagar where the party secured an impressive number of MPTCs.

A peculiar situation prevails in Chittoor where Congress aspirants for the ZP chief post are holding camps to prevent their flock from being poached by other groups in the party.

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