PRP ready electoral ties with CPI

Hyderabad, June 23: A day after Communist Party of India National General Secretary A B Bardhan offered a hand of friendship to the Praja Rajyam Party, its President Chiranjeevi today said his party was ready for electoral understanding for the coming Local Body elections.

Talking to newspersons here, the actor-turned-politician said the PRP was open to the idea of having truck with the Left parties for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporatin elections.

While maintaining that the TDP was an ally, Mr Bardhan had wanted the PRP to join hands with the Left parties in their fight against both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Chiranjeevi, who is happy over the Election Commission recognising the PRP as a regional party, said the party would henceforth fight the elections on a new symbol. The rail engine had led to a lot of confusion during the simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabh and the State Assembly.

On party founder-member P Mitra quitting the party, he said ”Mr Mitra had left only due to personal reasons”.

He said the party would hold organisational elections in the next two months.

It may be recalled that the CPI state unit was preferred to align with the PRP in the general election. But the party Central leadership had preferred to go with the TDP in a bid to evolve an alternative to the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.

—Agencies