HYDERABAD: With the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) being firm on having no ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the merger betwen the PRP and the Nava Telangana Party (NTP) seems to be hanging in balance. The NTP leadership is for an alliance between the PRP and the BJP while PRP president Chiranjeevi ruled out the possibility. The BJP factor will have a bearing on the alliance between the PRP and the NTP.
NTP president Devender Goud has been making efforts to convince his PRP counterpart to forge an alliance with the BJP.
However, the PRP president was adamant and categorically stated that his party would have no pact with the communal BJP. If Chiranjeevi continued to be firm on his stand, then the NTP will have to move away from the PRP and have an alliance with the BJP.
The deadlock over the BJP factor sems to be delaying the PRP and the NTP finalising the seat-sharing for the next elections. Though merger or an alliance between the NTP and the PRP has been on the cards for sometime, so far nothing has been formalised between the two parties.
However, sources point out that the NTP is asking for four MP seats and 25 Assembly seats in the Telangana region, but identification of the seats is yet to happen. Unless the BJP tangle is solved, the seat-sharing issue cannot be addressed, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the NTP is of the opinion that some leaders in the PRP are blocking it from having an understanding with the BJP. They are particularly pointing an accusing finger at PRP general secretary Dr P Mithra. The NTP leaders feel that though some top leaders of the PRP were in favour of an alliance with the BJP, it was Dr Mithra, Kathi Padma Rao and a few leaders who were bringing pressure on PRP president Chiranjeevi not to take a decision in favour of the BJP.
When contacted, Dr P Mithra categorically stated that he had nothing to do with the party’s understanding with the BJP.
