Miffed with Congress, CPI-M decides to go solo

Hyderabad, Nov (IANS) The CPI-M, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, has decided to go solo in the November 30 Telangana Assembly elections after the Congress failed to respond to its demand for two seats, while the CPI has decided to wait for two more days.

Accordingly, the CPI-M on Thursday announced that there will be no alliance with the Congress for the elections, adding that it plans to contest 24 seats.

The party had set Thursday as the deadline for the Congress to accept its demand for Wyra and Miryalaguda seats.

CPI-M state Secretary T. Veerabhadram announced 17 constituencies where the party will field its candidates.

“We will announce the remaining constituencies and the candidates in a day or two,” he said.

The CPI-M will contest seven seats in Khammam district, including Bhadrachalam and Paleru which it had originally demanded.

It will also field candidates in three constituencies in Nalgonda district and two in Suryapet district.

Slamming the Congress over its approach, Veerabhadram alleged that the party has no intention of having an alliance with the CPI-M.

He recalled that the CPI-M had originally sought Paleru and Bhadrachalam constituencies, but the Congress offered Wyra and Miryalaguda. Later, the Congress also refused to leave Wyra and told them that it would give Miryalaguda and another seat in Hyderabad.

The Congress had agreed to leave two seats each for CPI and CPI-M under the seat-sharing agreement. However, they could not reach a consensus as to which seats should be allocated to the Left parties.

Meanwhile, the CPI has decided to wait for two more days for the Congress to announce its final list.

The Congress has so far announced candidates for 100 out of 119 Assembly seats in Telangana.

Earlier, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) had snubbed the Left parties by deciding to go alone.

The CPI and CPI-M had supported the BRS in the Munugode bypoll last year and they were expecting the BRS to offer a few seats to them.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy has opposed the idea of leaving a couple of seats each for CPI and CPI-M, saying that the Left parties should not insist on seats.

He, however, said that if Congress comes to power, it can offer some nominated posts to the Left parties.