Interview. Past experience must dictate seat-sharing: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief

A four-time MLA and a five-time minister in Andhra Pradesh Assembly Ponnala Lakshmaiah dons a new hat this time.

Appointed as the President of newly constituted Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, he is busy finalising a tie-up with the Communist Party of India as he engages with a steady stream of leaders, seeking a ticket for elections.

In an interview with

Business Line, the MS (Mechanical) graduate from Oklahoma State University spoke about the alliance talks with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and development plan for the 29th State, if voted to power.

There seems to be deadlock in regards to alliance with Telangana Rashtra Samithi for the upcoming elections. Will Congress go for an alliance?

There is no direct channel established yet. But they have sent a word (through CPI) that they either want chief ministership or majority of seats. Either is not tenable. Our cadre wants us to go it alone. What we feel is that past experience should be the criteria for sharing of seats. (TRS agreed for 40-45 seats in 2004 and 2009 elections, first time with Congress and second with Telugu Desam Party.)

But don’t you think that going alone will impact both parties as the pro-Telangana sentiment gets split between the two?

We are confident of winning about 100 seats (Telangana has 119 Assembly seats) on our own as we stood by our promise of giving statehood for Telangana. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will attend at least five-six meetings in different parts of Telangana. In the first leg, Sonia will address a meeting in Hyderabad on April 16 and Rahul on April 13. This will help consolidate our strength.

Besides, we have almost finalised an alliance with CPI for 6-10 seats and one Lok Sabha seat (Khammam likely). We expect to gain from their support, say 50-5000 votes in 100 constituencies, improving winning chances in some closely contested fights.

When will you announce candidates?

We have finalised the list. We might release the list on April 4 or 5.

What is going to be your poll plank? What is your plan for the development of Telangana?

We promise to offer sustainable governance and equitable justice. We got an IT Investment Region (ITIR) project for Hyderabad. Over a period of 25 years, it will generate lakhs of jobs. We will have an innovative solar power development project. The Opposition is talking about freebie schemes but I tell you we have launched several in the last 10 years. Take for example the universal health insurance scheme Arogyasri.