Andhra poll dates out, parties prepare for battle

General Elections and Assembly elections will be held in Andhra Pradesh together in April and May, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.

The Telangana districts will go to polls on April 30 and Seemandhra districts on May 7. The Union Home Ministry has declared June 2 as the 'appointed day' for Telangana.

With municipal elections on March 30, political parties are already active at the grassroots.

For the last couple of day, state leader of the Congress, the TDP, the TRS, the YSRCP and the BJP leaders have held a series of consultations with their cadres.

The BJP state executive that met some days ago has announced that the party was going it alone in the elections.

"We will contest on all seats in the state for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections," BJP state unit president G. Kishan Reddy told Indiatoday.in.

He ruled out any alliance with the TDP. "Neither we nor our national leadership has expressed an intention to have an alliance with the TDP."

The BJP has asked its workers in Telangana to tell people about the role the party played in the creation of the state.

In Seemandhra too, the party is reaching out to people and assuring them maximum support if it comes to power at the Centre.

Party leaders in these districts are assuring people that the BJP would protect their interests once the state is bifurcated.

TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu is also preparing his party for the elections.

Soon after municipal election dates were announced, he began touring coastal district Vijayanagaram and addressed massive public meetings.

On Wednesday, he left for Nellore to participate in a rally and speak at a public meeting.

"Today our president is also going to address a meeting of the Nellore district party unit," said K. Rammohana Rao, vice-president of the TDP's state unit.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has taken its first step in preparing for the elections by appointing a five-member committee headed by secretary general and Rajya Sabha member K. Kesava Rao to decide on poll alliances.

Ruling out a merger with the Congress, TRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao has announced that parties interested in an alliance have to consult that committee.

Though many Congress leaders from Telangana have criticised Rao for ruling out a merger, the party's national leadership, according to sources in the state unit, are keen to have alliance or understanding with the TRS.

Speaking to mediapersons in Warangal, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the issue of a coalition with the TRS was still alive. He said deliberations were on with the TRS.

The party's state unit expects a clearer picture in a week.