Congress in Andhra divided over poll tie-up with Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad, Nov 2 : Serious differences have cropped up in the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh following its state chief's decision to forge an alliance with the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) of actor-cum-politician Chiranjeevi for the ensuing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.

A day after state Congress chief D.Srinivas said the party would have an alliance with the PRP, several ministers opposed it, saying the ruling party was strong enough to contest the elections on its own.

The party appears vertically divided over the issue as the alliance with the PRP is being seen as an attempt by Srinivas and some other leaders to sideline Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late chief minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and a contender for the chief minister's post.

The Congress leadership is apparently trying to cash in on the popularity of superstar Chiranjeevi in the absence of its star campaigner YSR, who died in a helicopter crash Sep 2.

Health Minister D.Nagender, who heads the Congress' Greater Hyderabad unit, Monday said he was personally opposed to an alliance with the PRP. The tie-up would do injustice to the genuine workers of the Congress party and he would convey this to the party's central leadership.

Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy also said the Congress party did not need an alliance with any other party. "It would be better if the PRP is merged with the Congress," he said.

"If somebody tries to weaken Jagan's camp, it will emerge more stronger," he said when a reporter sought his comment on the allegations by some supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy that the proposed alliance with the PRP was an attempt to sideline him in the party.

Lok Sabha member Sabbam Hari said the Congress party would not have an alliance with the PRP at any cost.

The elections to 150-member GHMC, the second biggest urban conglomerate in the country after New Delhi, are scheduled to be held Nov 23. The PRP is demanding 40 seats under the alliance with the Congress party.

The decision of Srinivas to form an alliance with the PRP and to look for long-term ties with it for elections to other local bodies has come as a surprise to many in the party as the PRP failed to emerge as a strong political force in the recent elections.

Srinivas' decision also comes amid the demand by a section of party leaders to rope in Jagan for the campaign, and close on the heels of a minister's resignation to protest the central leadership's decision not to make Jagan the chief minister. Some other ministers loyal to Jagan have not ruled out resignations if it makes his case stronger before the leadership.

Since YSR's death in a chopper crash, his loyalists among ministers, legislators and MPs have been demanding that his son and the Kadapa MP should be made the chief minister. However, the central leadership has reportedly decided to continue with veteran leader K. Rosaiah as the chief minister.

Chiranjeevi, who took a political plunge in August last year, had projected himself as an alternative to both the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party. However, his Praja Rajyam Party came a cropper in the April-May elections, managing to win just 18 seats in the 294-member assembly and drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha.

Since then, the party has been facing an identity crisis with questions being raised over its sustainability till the next elections in 2014. Several senior leaders have already deserted the party while a section of leaders has even favoured a merger with the Congress.