The Hindu : Front Page : Devender Goud meets Chiranjeevi

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Monday, Dec 22, 2008
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Devender Goud meets Chiranjeevi

Special Correspondent

Two parties to work together on issues of common interest

–Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Coming closer: Nava Telangana Party leaders T. Devender Goud and E. Peddi Reddy greeting PR president Chiranjeevi in Hyderabad on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: Nava Telangana Party (NTP) president T. Devender Goud on Sunday called on his Praja Rajyam counterpart Chiranjeevi, apparently to explore the possibility of forging an alliance between the two parties for the Assembly elections.

Accompanied by his senior colleague, E. Peddi Reddy, Mr. Goud held consultations with the PR leader at the Praja Rajyam office for nearly one-and-a-half hours. At the end of the talks, the NTP president told mediapersons that they did not discuss alliances as there was no urgency in it since elections were far away. He came down to express solidarity with Chiranjeevi for his stand on Telangana and social justice.

Merger move denied

Mr. Goud denied any move to merge NTP with Praja Rajyam and said the parties decided to work together on issues where they shared common ground. Otherwise, the parties would pursue their respective programmes on their own.

Welcoming the talks for an alliance between the Praja Rajyam and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Mr. Goud appealed to the TRS to take them to their logical conclusion. The NTP would not give room for a dispute on the number of seats to be contested. In response to questions from reporters, Mr. Goud advised them to observe patience as it was not the end of the day between the NTP and Praja Rajyam.

‘Talks to continue’

Mr. Chiranjeevi said the meeting with Mr. Goud did not mean calling off talks with the TRS. They would continue. He described Mr. Goud as an experienced leader with whom he enjoyed a good rapport even before the Praja Rajyam took birth. Mr. Goud met him to offer his best wishes.

Meanwhile, the official spokesman of Praja Rajyam V.G.R. Naragoni convened a meeting of his supporters separately in the background of reports that he was distancing himself from the party. Mr. Naragoni said he was trying to mount pressure on the party to do justice to the Backward Classes in the distribution of tickets but Chiranjeevi warned him that he was liable to disciplinary action.

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