Seat Sharing With Left Parties in Khammam Gains Prominence; Headache to Congress
KHAMMAM: Seat sharing with Left parties has become a headache to the Congress party in erstwhile Khammam. Vote transfer may not be easy between the Congress and the left parties even if they agree on seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly polls in TS.
The Congress party is offering two seats each to the CPI and CPIM but the CPIM is insisting on allocation of Paleru instead of Wyra.
The Congress offered Chennur and Kothagudem for the CPI and Miryalagudem and Wyra for the CPIM.
The BRS has dropped the idea of seat-sharing with the Left parties and also halted the talks for an alliance in the assembly elections.
The left leaders are projecting themselves as ‘influential’ and they claim to have bargaining power after the BRS won the Munugode seat with the left support. The CPI has its cadre there.
However, the political situation is not the same in Khammam compared to the scene in Munugode. The Congress party is strong in the erstwhile Khammam district.
The Congress party’s seat sharing with left parties got prominence in the discussions at the central election committee meeting held in Delhi on Wednesday.
AICC leaders are not able to decide on seat-sharing with the left. They can offer seats to the left parties only by keeping the winning chances of the Congress party candidate alive and protecting the interest of the Congress party, party sources said.
It is likely that the CPIM cadre may not strictly adhere to the party line to support the Congress candidate in Khammam. They may take their own decision as per their wish or for personal gains during the assembly polls, it is felt.
Senior leaders Thummala Nageshwar and Ponguleti knew of these problems even after the Congress party allies with the CPI and the CPIM.
There is also a possibility of the ticket aspirants from the Congress party contesting as independents in the seats allotted to the CPI and CPIM. There are also fears that the BRS candidates may bargain for left votes at an individual level.
