KCR ducks Mahakutami

Hyderabad, Jan. 20: The “Mahakutami” (Grand Alliance), led by the Telugu Desam has hit a road block just ahead of its formation with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti demanding its share of seats to the Assembly and Lok Sabha.
The Grand Alliance was supposed to have been announced on Wednesday during the Vishwa Shanti Yagam organised by the TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the Telangana Bhavan.
There was no word from either the TRS office or the Telugu Desam office on the formation of the Grand Alliance.
Sources in the TRS and the TD said the parties were caught in a deadlock on the issue of seat sharing.
“It’s a fact that the seat sharing issue has become a tricky affair. But, there is still the night and the morning to decide. Maybe the issue can be settled and announced on Wednesday,” the TRS spokesman, Mr Jagdish Reddy, told this newspaper late on Tuesday.
The TRS president reportedly sought seats in tune with his lucky number six. He sought 51 Assembly and 9 Lok Sabha seats. The numbers add up to 60 and conforms to his lucky number six.
However, the Telugu Desam has reportedly offered 45 Assembly and 8 Lok Sabha seats.
“The discussion is still going on. Several alternatives are being proposed. At one stage, the TD offered 50:50 seats out of the seats which were remaining after allotting seats for the Left parties which have around 20 Assembly and one LS seat each,” sources in the Telugu Desam told this newspaper.
“The TRS began with 52 Assembly and 10 Lok Sabha seats.” he added.
A TRS spokesman, who initially said that the TD president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, CPI(M) general secretary, Mr B.V. Raghavulu, and the CPI general secretary, Mr K. Narayana, would attend the formal announcement of the alliance, later backtracked saying the programme was yet to be finalised. There was no word even after 10 pm on the issue.