Jagan wins here, Cong, PRP ties off

NEW DELHI: Supporters of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy, have managed to scuttle a proposed alliance between Congress and actor Chiranjeevi���s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, but Congress��� decision to keep PRP on its right side is an indication of a tie-up waiting in the wings.

Mr Reddy, a first-time MP from Kadappa, who was overlooked by Congress for the CM���s post, stood most to lose if the alliance took off.

The move would have not only given the party the comfort of numbers in the event of Jagan camp splitting the party at a future point, but more importantly, it would have given the party access to a popular ���face��� after having lost its biggest crowd puller, YSR, to a chopper crash. Sources said a bulk of the MLAs in the GHMC region owed loyalty to the Jagan camp and were opposed the proposed alliance.

Leaders of both sides, AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Veerappa Moily and PRP leader C Ramachandraiah, confirmed that there would be no alliance for the GHMC polls.

However, the development of Congress reaching out to PRP itself indicates the growing clout of the anti-YSR group within the Andhra Pradesh Congress. The decision to enter into an alliance with Mr Chiranjeevi was backed by chief minister K Rosaiah and APCC chief D Srinivas and also cleared by a section of the central leadership as well.

There were also talks of a merger between PRP and Congress, however, PRP has understandably turned down the proposition. The newly-formed party has 18 MLAs in the 294-member Andhra assembly. It was hoping to boost its profile through an alliance with the ruling party but seemed to have reconciled to keeping out of a factional fight in the Andhra Congress.