Telangana Assembly elections: Weaknesses in opposition bind ties

Adilabad: Individual weaknesses of opposition parties like the TJS, CPI, TD and the Congress have forced them join hands to form a grand alliance for the Telangana state Assembly elections to ensure that they do not lose further ground in the state.

Leaders of all these parties have said that the grand alliance was mandatory to defeat the TRS, otherwise they would be further weakened as independent entities.

Congress leaders in private conversations admitted that the TJS, CPI and the TD would add strength to the Congress in their fight against TRS in the elections.

They wanted to be in the grand alliance as they knew their weaknesses and felt that being a part of the grand alliance would be their strength. The TD was keen to be a part of the alliance to revive itself in Telangana, while the CPI and the TJS wanted to gain further and make their presence felt in the state politics.

Taking these parties along with it in its political journey has become a must for the Congress for defeating its arch rival TRS and its chief KCR and for coming back to power in Telangana.

The TJS wants to play an active role in the state politics like the erstwhile Telangana Praja Samiti (TPS), which won 10 out of 11 MP seats — on the plank of separate Telang-ana state — in the Telangana region during the 1971 Lok Sabha elections.

The TPS had become a popular sub-regional party and late Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy was one of the senior party leaders. The TJS did not get much time to strengthen its base at ground level and establish an organisational set-up across the state due to the ruling party having dissolved the assembly and announced early polls. So it remained confined to a few pockets in the state.

The TJS led by Prof M Kodandaram was formed as a party in the same building which was used earlier by the Telangana Praja Samiti (TPS) at Nampally in Hyderabad. However, party sources said the TJS will contest with its own symbol instead of with the Congress symbol or B Form.

In fact, the TJS had applied for the symbol of a farmer carrying a plough and spade. But, the Chief Election Commission had already given a farmer carrying a plough symbol to the Bahujan Left Front.

TJS president Prof Kodandaram and other senior leaders, including Gurijala Ravinder Rao, Rathan Rao, Gopal Sharma, Biri Ramesh, Satla Bheem Rao and Kotnak Vijay will visit the historical Jodeghat and pay tribute to the legendary Adivasi Kumaram Bheem on his 78th death anniversary on October 24.