Congress to align with Praja Rajyam for GHMC polls in Andhra Pradesh

The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh has decided to align with actor Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) for the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) slated for November 23.

The alliance between the national party and the 15-month-old regional party was formalised after a secret meeting late last night between Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president D Srinivas and PRP leader and Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law Allu Aravind.

While AICC general secretary in charge of AP affairs M Veerappa Moily and chief minister K Rosaiah gave their nod to the alliance on behalf of their party, Chiranjeevi currently camping in Kerala with family, too conveyed his approval over phone to Srinivas, party sources said.

Chiranjeevi will return to Hyderabad this afternoon after which he will have a formal meeting with the APCC chief to finalise the seat-sharing, a senior PRP leader said.

State health minister and Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee president Danam Nagender met the APCC president this morning and discussed the alliance with PRP. Nagender said the entire issue was being looked into by the PCC president. The PCC president will decide on the number of seats to be shared with the PRP, he said.

Backward classes welfare minister M Mukesh Goud, who hails from Hyderabad, too held talks with Srinivas over the alliance with PRP. Till last morning, the APCC president had asserted that the Congress would contest the GHMC elections without any alliance.

But, with the party prospects looking bleak in the state capital given the worsening of living conditions and civic amenities in the last five years, the ruling party deemed it fit to join hands with a regional party, sources said.

There were feelers from the PRP that it was interested in joining hands with us for the GHMC elections and accordingly we too moved ahead to forge our partnership, a senior PCC leader said.

Though the PRP grossly failed to make a mark in the general elections in April this year, the Congress chose to align with the former only to thwart the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party's plans to tie-up with Chiranjeevi's party. The TDP was willing to align with the PRP if the latter came up with a proposal for the GHMC elections but no talks were held between the two sides, the leader said.

Given the chord that Chiranjeevi was able to strike with chief minister K Rosaiah, the Congress took the lead to formalise an alliance with the PRP, party sources said.

A clearer picture on the Congress-PRP alliance will emerge later this evening after Chiranjeevi's interaction with the APCC president, the sources added.