Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi bond over Telangana bill

NEW DELHI: The imminent creation of Telangana has raised the prospects of an electoral tie-up between Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), a combination that can dominate Parliament and assembly seats of the new state in the coming elections.

The passage of the Telangana bill in LS, sources said, is likely to result in TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao joining hands with Congress , which would not have been possible had the legislation not passed. A tie-up would see Congress contest a majority of the 17 LS seats. The local outfit TRS may have a better share of the assembly seats. The LS and assembly elections are to be held together in 2014.

TRS had promised a merger with Congress if AP was bifurcated. But now, there is little clarity on the issue, with the issue having dragged over four years.

Congress is a major force in Telangana, having swept the pocket of AP in 2009 simultaneous elections. But since then, it has suffered because of its vacillating stand on statehood.An overwhelming section of the Congress believes that the two parties should contest the coming elections together to deny any chance to BJP and TDP.

There is also a feeling that a merger may not be the right way to go about it because contesting together without a merger would help divert the Congress’s anti-incumbency to a third party in TRS. Else, other parties like BJP or TDP would come into play.

The talks between the two parties are likely to start soon. KCR recently met Sonia Gandhi but sources said the chat was limited to getting the bill passed.