Hyderabad The Congress party will form an alliance with the Left Parties in Andhra Pradesh to jointly fight the upcoming elections to the state assembly and the Lok Sabha, state unit chief Y S Sharmila announced on Friday, asserting that the “only way to counter bigger parties like the YSRCP and the TDP is to come together”.
Addressing the media after holding talks with delegations of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India- (Marxist) at Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada, Sharmila accused both the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of surrendering themselves to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.
“We have discussed the issues facing the public that can be fought in alliance with the Left parties. The only way to counter bigger parties like the YSRCP and the TDP is to come together and forge an alliance,” she said.
Taking to X, the state Congress chief said: “The Congress is the only party that fights for the rights of the state of Andhra... Anything is possible if we fight together. We will soon take a decision on joint operation and adjustment of seats. The ruling and opposition parties in the state have become slaves to the BJP and are writing down our rights. If the state wants to do good, if the promises of partition are to be fulfilled, it is possible only with the Congress party.”
Talking to the media, Sharmila said she has extended an invitation to the Left parties for the public meeting to be addressed by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge at Anantapur on February 26. “Discussions are on among three parties on seat-sharing and a clear picture would emerge soon,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}Talking to the media, Sharmila said she has extended an invitation to the Left parties for the public meeting to be addressed by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge at Anantapur on February 26. “Discussions are on among three parties on seat-sharing and a clear picture would emerge soon,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}CPI (M) state secretary Srinivasa Rao, who was also present for the meeting, said the Congress and the Left parties would put up a joint fight to defeat the BJP, YSRCP and the TDP. “These parties have done injustice to the state,” he added.
CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna said, if the BJP came to power, it would pursue communal agenda and change the Constitution authored by Dr B R Ambedkar. “YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan have surrendered to the BJP and mortgaged the interests of Telugu people,” he alleged.
In 2019, the CPI and CPI (M) entered into an alliance with the Jana Sena Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party ahead of the Andhra Pradesh elections. The alliance secured 5.6% of vote share with the CPI, CPI (M) and BSP drawing a blank and the Jana Sena winning only one assembly seat.
The Congress managed to secure 1.17% of votes without winning a single MLA seat and its vote share was lesser than the votes polled under NOTA (none of the above), which was 1.29%.
YSR Congress party general secretary V Vijay Sai Reddy said a vote for the Congress would be a vote wasted. “The Congress in Andhra Pradesh is competing with NOTA for the fifth position. In 2019, the Congress lost to NOTA by 32,505 votes. With experience from Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress can break easily. So, a vote for the Congress is a vote wasted. Vote for the winning party, that is YSRCP,” he said.
TDP official spokesman N Vijay Kumar said the Congress-Left parties’ alliance will be inconsequential on the electoral prospects of the TDP. “They are just fringe parties whose vote share is negligible and cannot alter the fortunes of any major party for that matter,” Kumar said.
The BJP leaders could not be reached for comment.
Political analyst and researcher G Murali said the alliance between Sharmila and the Left parties would not have much impact on the prospects of any other parties. “In the seats where there is a tough fight, this alliance might only damage the vote bank of YSRCP to some extent, as the impact of Sharmila would be only on the ruling party and not the opposition,” he said.