PR may drift towards BJP

BY J.R.PRASAD

Hyderabad, Jan. 6: The Praja Rajyam and the BJP seem to be moving closer to each other if one goes by the uncanny similarity in the petitions they have filed in the AP High Court opposing the ban on road shows. Though the two parties have different advocates the petitions look like photostat copies of each other. This gives credence to the speculation that the Praja Rajyam and the BJP are in touch with each other especially in the context of the Telangana Rastra Samiti and the Telugu Desam finding common cause.

Throwing further hints, the Nava Telangana Party president, Mr T. Devender Goud, who has forged an alliance with the Praja Rajyam, refused to rule out the possibility of a tie up with the BJP too. A section of leaders in the Praja Rajyam is exerting pressure on the party chief Chiranjeevi to strike up an alliance with the BJP, though the latter had said earlier that he would go it alone.

Chiranjeevi’s influential brother-in-law, Mr Allu Aravind, is said to be the key person behind this move. He and others feel that a lone battle may not be a wise decision for the fledgling party which still lacks organisational set up. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi said in Nellore that his party had come close to an alliance with the TRS but the latter had backed out. “But we will win maximum seats in Telangana without any alliance with the TRS,” he said.