Chiranjeevi’s PRP ties up with Cong for municipal polls, alliance may go on

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Hyderabad: Bowing to pressure from his party MLAs, actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi has decided to forge an alliance with the Congress to contest elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) later this month. While it is a strategic move by the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) which is trying to get a more secure foothold in the state’s politics, the Congress is attempting to counter the TDP’s alliance with Left parties. Besides, it is a strategy to counter any revolt or resignations by pro-YSR MLAs. The PRP has 18 MLAs including Chiranjeevi.

The Congress high command is learnt to have asked the APCC to go ahead with the alliance to keep the Jaganmohan camp under control besides acquiring the advantage of a popular leader like Chiranjeevi campaigning on behalf of the party. However, pro-YSR leaders are expressing their displeasure over the alliance. Elections to the 150-seat GHMC will be held on November 23.

PRP president Chiranjeevi said on Monday that the ties with the Congress may last beyond the GHMC polls. “The Rajya Sabha elections are also coming up. We may extend our alliance to the future also,” he said.

YSR loyalist and health minister Danam Nagender, president of the Greater Hyderabad District Congress Committee, feels that the Congress needs no alliances as it can win an election on its own strength. “This kind of alliance with smaller parties shows the Congress in poor light and it may backfire”, Nagender said on Monday.

The GHMC elections are being projected as a test for the Congress without the charisma and leadership of Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and an acid test for chief minister K Rosaiah who for the first time will be campaigning as the leader. “The party is already split over who will lead the campaign. While Rosaiah wants to take charge, APCC president D Srinivas has also been making statements. The pro-Jagan camp wants Jaganmohan to be roped in,’’ a source in the APCC said.

The issue has ruffled the feathers of the leaders to the extent that at an uneasy meeting at Srinivas’ residence on Sunday, they did not discuss who would lead the campaign. “There was so much ambiguity that they were having difficulty in deciding who would handle the PRP when it comes to deciding the list of candidates it would forward to the Congress,’’ sources said.