PR hopes to bag seats through caste politics

BY J.R.PRASAD

Hyderabad, April 13: The Praja Rajyam leadership is pinning its hopes on polarisation of votes on caste lines as the campaign for the first phase of polls comes to a close.

A survey on caste equations in each constituency carried out by the party has made it confident that the social justice plank will help it in the polls.

Based on this survey, the Praja Rajyam leadership is hopeful of securing 60 to 70 seats out of the 154 Assembly segments which are going to polls on April 16.

Of these, 20 to 25 seats will be bagged by the party from the north Andhra region and the remaining 40 to 45 seats will be secured from the 119-seat Telangana region, leaders say.

During the study, a sample survey was conducted in every mandal headquarters in 154 Assembly seats, sources said.

However, the questionnaire has skipped key factors such as the Telangana sentiment, welfare programmes of the government and the traditional vote bank of the Congress and the Grand Alliance, making the conclusions rather tenuous. Other details of the survey are being kept under wraps.

The Praja Rajyam leaders fear that recent desertions and Parakala Prabhakar's allegations against the party leadership would have a negative impact on the party's poll prospects.

The cash-for-seat allegations have also tarnished the image of the party among educated and middle class voters, they feel.

Meanwhile, the Praja Rajyam vice-president, Mr T. Devender Goud, on Tuesday blamed the Telugu Desam chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu and the Chief Minister, Mr Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, for hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the party.