Hyderabad, November 03: A day after Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president D Srinivas announced that the alliance between the Congress and the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) was on for the ensuing elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), suspense prevailed throughout Monday over whether it would materialise at all.
In an unexpected statement in Delhi, Congress AP affairs incharge Veerappa Moily termed the proposal for a tieup with Chiranjeevi’s PRP as a non-issue catching the forces ranged against the late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy off guard and cheering up the Kadapa MP’s supporters.
The roller coaster developments in the Congress led to confusion among PRP leaders who were more or less getting ready to finalise the nitty-gritty of the alliance. A PRP MLA, angry at the sudden turn of events, fumed: “Is the Congress having an alliance with us or not? One day it says it is on and the next, it says it is off.” Another leader Vanga Geetha admitted she had no idea if the alliance was on. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp, which was crestfallen after the PCC chief ’s Sunday announcement, heaved a sigh of relief after Moily’s remarks.
According to sources close to Jagan Mohan Reddy, it was Srinivas, who had impressed upon Moily on Sunday the need to strike an alliance with the PRP as the latter secured 17 per cent votes in the Assembly elections.
The Congress high command, the sources said, only wanted to cut Jagan Mohan Reddy down to size, not to alienate him permanently since he too has a considerable following among the masses. Keeping this in mind, the alliance proposal has been kept in a limbo since any clear statement in favour of a tie-up might drive Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp to extreme action.
Those in the know of the developments told Express that Moily, after the adverse reaction from within the party to the proposal, had told the PCC chief to leave the final decision to the legislators from the city since they would have a lot of say in the elections to the GHMC. Accordingly, Srinivas held a meeting with them and most of them were against any truck with the PRP.
Instead, they suggested that the PRP be merged with the Congress. In such a scenario, Chiranjeevi would become a non-entity in the party.
Earlier in the day, ministers loyal to Jagan Mohan Reddy conferred with their leader and later said they were against the alliance. Among them Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy was quite vocal in his demand.
“There is no need for the Congress to go in for an alliance.
Instead, the PRP may be merged with the Congress,” he said. Anakapalle MP Sabbam Hari wanted no alliance since those who were selling the concept only wanted to hit back at Jagan Mohan Reddy and not help the Congress become stronger.
But there were eloquent voices in the Congress too which wanted the alliance. Former minister JC Diwakar Reddy, who was in Delhi, said the alliance would help the Congress reap a political harvest. A similar opinion was voiced by Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud.
–Agencies