Kodandaram with Rahul: We are willing to settle for 15 seats

Telangana |  Suryaa Desk  | Published : Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 11:09 AM

TJS President Kodandaram on Friday maintained that his party wished for at least 15 seats as part of the seat-sharing agreement among grand alliance parties. Kodandaram’s statements come only a day after sources claimed seat-sharing agreement between grand alliance parties had reached a conclusion.After a meeting with AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Friday, Kodandaram told the press that his party wished to contest from 17 seats but was ready to settle for 15. It may be recalled that TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy had announced on Thursday that his party would contest from 95 seats, TDP from 14, leaving only 10 seats to the other parties - CPI, TJS and MBT.


“All through the meeting, we discussed about the need for an ideologically strong Opposition to TRS. Seat sharing never came up for discussion. However, we maintain that we want to contest from 17 seats, but we are willing to settle for 15. We want Congress to give us constituencies that it does not have a strong foothold in,” the TJS chief told media persons, driving a hard bargain. Sources within TJS say that the party is seeking Yellareddy, Malkajgiri, Miryalguda, Ramagundam and Tandur, among other constituencies.


However, Kodandaram also said, “The common good of grand alliance is more important than the interests of individual leaders and parties. We have asked Rahul Gandhi to expedite discussions about the common minimum programme and seat sharing, so that we don’t lose momentum before going to polls. Telangana people can now hope thanks to the grand alliance. The alliance was formed to bring in a change and it is appearing very promising now.”  


Not wanting to go the Anna Hazare way


Professor M Kodandaram is quite a famous figure in the State for his role in the Telangana movement as TJAC chief. After staying out of politics for a long time, he formed the Telangana Jana Samithi. It is reported that he was instrumental in the formation of a united ‘anti-TRS’ grand alliance, which has become quite a formidable threat to the ruling party.


While Kodandaram has consistently cited ideological reasons and the necessity for a united opposition to TRS, he has also been steadfast with his demand for a relatively large number of seats. He has been bargaining with seasoned politicians in Congress during seat sharing discussions. It is not clear whether Kodanaram will contest in the polls or whether he would limit himself to campaigning for grand alliance candidates.


However, he has made it clear that he would like to play a major role in active politics. Perhaps the TJS chief does not wish for the irrelevance of activist Anna Hazare who had led a massive anti-corruption movement in 2013 and was later overshadowed by his mentee Avind Kejriwal who went on to become Chief Minister of Delhi.








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