Seat-sharing deal of Congress-led alliance in Telangana finalized: AICC
What's the story
Seat-sharing deal among partners of the Congress-led grand alliance for the December 7 Telangana Assembly elections has been finalized and will be announced after its approval by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the AICC said today. This ends weeks of negotiations that the Congress had with its electoral partners, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Information
Distribution of number of seats still a mystery though
The AICC in-charge (Telangana affairs), RC Khuntia however didn't say how many seats Congress would get in the 119-member Assembly but sources indicated that it wouldn't be less than 90. Before the official announcement, a TDP leader claimed his party may get around 14-18 seats.
Problems
TJS worried over delay in finalizing seat-sharing formula
Meanwhile, founder-President of TJS, Prof M Kodandaram said the Congress has offered his party eight to ten seats, whereas he is seeking a minimum of 12 but hoped that the issue would be settled. "Some adjustment has to happen but we're more worried about the delay (in finalizing the seat-sharing formula). It's the major issue," he said. The CPI has been offered three seats.
Distribution
Cadres feel CPI should get two more Assembly seats
"We are going to discuss the offer tomorrow at our state executive meeting and decide about it," CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said. In addition, the party has been offered two MLC seats. He termed the offer "comparatively good in the present circumstances", but said the feeling among the party cadre is that it should have got two more Assembly seats.