Telangana Jana Samithi president M Kodandaram on Wednesday gave a rude shock to the Congress party, which has been maintaining a stubborn stand on allotment of seats to the alliance partners in Maha Kootami.
The TJS announced that it is going to contest in 12 assembly seats in the December 7 assembly elections, instead of eight seats allotted to it by the Congress party as part of alliance. A decision to this effect was taken after the party’s meeting in Hyderabad.
Apparently vexed with the delaying tactics of the Congress party in finalising the seats, TJS said it would contest in 12 seats -- Dubbak, Medak, Siddipet, Station Ghanpur, Malkajgiri, Amberpet, Warangal (East), Miryalguda, Jangaon, Asifabad, Wardhannapet and Mahbubnagar.
Of these 12, the Congress has already announced candidates in Asifabad and Station Ghanpur and is likely to announce candidate for Miryalguda, while Mahbubnagar was allotted to the Telugu Desam Party as part of the seat sharing deal.
“In fact, we have asked for 12 seats, not eight. But, there was no response from the Congress. So, we decided to announce those 12 seats. It may even go up to 14 or 15,” TJS leader P L Vishweshwar Rao told media in the evening.
He said the names of candidates in these 12 seats would be announced shortly.
“Kodandaram is in deliberations with Congress president in Delhi. We hope outcome would be in our favour,” he said.
He, however, said the TJS would be part of Maha Kootami and would fight for the defeat of the TRS. But, the alliance partners should adopt give-and-take policy during the negotiations, he said.
