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BJP, TDP begin seat-sharing talks for civic polls

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

With the avowed objective of keeping their "common enemy" -- the Congress -- at bay, the ruling Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party have begun talks on seat-sharing for the municipal polls scheduled during February in Andhra Pradesh.

A preliminary meeting of the coordination committees of the TDP and BJP was held at the weekend to explore each other's strength and the modalities for seat-sharing between the two parties for the civic polls.

The TDP was represented by Chief Minister and party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Home Minister T Devender Goud and Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu. The BJP was represented by state unit president Chilakam Ramachandra Reddy, state general secretary P Venugopal Reddy and former state unit president V Rama Rao.

However, Union Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya and TDP Rajya Sabha member P Prabhakar Reddy, who are members of the coordination committees constituted by their respective parties, were not present at the preliminary round, which lasted an hour.

With more meetings scheduled over the next few days, the TDP and BJP hope to reach an agreement on seat-sharing by January 31.

The leaders of both the parties feel that the political situation in the urban areas is very "favourable" and TDP-BJP tie-up in the municipal polls would not only secure a thumping win for the combine but also ensure the "rout" of the Congress and the two Communist parties -- the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Communist Party of India -- in the civic bodies. At present, the Congress holds sway over 55 municipalities and a couple of municipal corporations.

The state cabinet, at a meeting on January 17, decided to conduct elections to 95 municipalities and five municipal corporations --Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Kurnool and Warangal -- on or before February 29. The elections in these civic bodies are due, in the normal course, in March this year, since the polls were held in March 1995, soon after the TDP's resounding victory in the 1994 assembly polls under the stewardship of N T Rama Rao.

However, the Chandrababu Naidu government has sought to defer the civic polls in the municipal corporations of Hyderabad and Rajahmundry, nine municipalities surrounding Hyderabad, besides the Tirupati and Hindupur municipalities for assorted reasons, including court cases, and the formation of Greater Hyderabad comprising Hyderabad-Secunderabad and adjoining areas.

The state government has decided to promulgate ordinances for extending the terms of the special officers for the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and Rajahmundry Municipal Corporation, besides Tirupati, Hindupur and nine other municipalities -- Malkajgiri, Alwal, Kapra, Qutubullahpur, Kukatpally, Seri Lingampally, Rajendranagar, L B Nagar and Uppal Kalan -- for a further period of 18 months, pending the conduct of elections.

The state government has also notified the municipalities/ municipal corporations to be reserved for women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and the open categories.

The TDP has convened a meeting of the extended executive of the party on January 24 and 25 to discuss the municipal elections. The TDP has not given any indications on the "quantum" of seat-sharing so far. However, it is willing to part with 15 to 20 municipal chairmen's posts and 15 to 20 per cent of the wards for the BJP under seat-sharing. The TDP is not ready to share any of the municipal corporation mayoral posts with the BJP, though.

The TDP has decided to constitute committees at the district as well as municipality/ corporation level to identify the municipalities/ wards for seat-sharing and oversee the smooth conduct of the joint poll campaign. Ministers, district party in charges, MPs and MLAs will be the members of these committees.

The TDP has constituted 36 teams, each consisting of two MLAs and a party functionary, to organise general body meetings of partymen in towns and also to assess the local political situation in the context of the ensuing civic polls. These meetings are being scheduled from January 27-30.

The BJP has convened a meeting of its extended state executive comprising MPs, MLAs, district unit presidents and zonal in charges on January 31 to decide on the municipal chairmen posts and wards to be contested by the party in alliance with the TDP.

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