LEFT OUT by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from its list released for the coming Assembly elections – where it covered 117 of the 119 seats – the CPI and CPI(M) are now hoping an alliance with the Congress will come through in Telangana. A meeting between the parties is scheduled for this week, but the signals from the Congress side have so far been lukewarm. On Monday, the Congress cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Left. As recently as the high-stakes Munugode by-election held last October, the Left had lent support to the BRS. However, the CPI and CPI(M) were in for a shock when BRS head and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced his party's candidate list. Sources in the BRS said that while the party and KCR continue to consider the CPI and CPI(M) as allies, a seat-sharing was difficult given the number of BRS ticket aspirants, especially with all sitting MLAs being renominated. The CPI and CPI(M) are said to be seeking at least five seats each in rural areas. However, given that the two did not win a single seat in 2018, neither the BRS nor the Congress is too keen. In the Assembly elections held in December 2018, the CPI(M) had got 0.44% of the votes polled, and the CPI 0.40%, with pockets of influence in districts like Nalgonda, Bhadradri Kothagudem, and Khammam. In 2014, the first Assembly election in Telangana, after it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the CPI and CPI(M) won one seat each – Deverakonda and Bhadrachalam, respectively. In several seats which the Left has an eye on, the Congress has strong sitting MLAs. For example, Madhira, which the CPI(M) may seek, is represented by three-time MLA, Congress Legislative Party leader and TPCC chairperson Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Similarly, Bellampalli, which the CPI is said to be keen on, is represented by a strong BRS sitting MLA. In Munugode, the Left has strong support, and its help to the BRS had helped the party defeat the BJP’s Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. However, since the win in neighbouring Karnataka galvanised the Congress ranks in Telangana, the BRS has come to see the Congress as its main rival. And hence does not see the Left, which is aligned with the Congress at the national level, as bringing too much to its fold. Similarly, the Congress is confident that the Karnataka win has set a template that it can use to good effect in Telangana and is not too desperate for additional help. Sources said Left leaders had sent feelers to AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre, and he had informally reached out to them. But the Telangana PCC chief, A Revanth Reddy, has been asked to determine to what extent an alliance with the Left would benefit the party. CPI(M) Telangana state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said that so far only informal talks had been held with Congress leaders, with an invite from Thakre for discussions, but that there was no clarity on the issue. “We don’t know if the Congress will offer us some seats to contest,” he admitted. CPI state secretary K Sambasiva Rao said that any tie-up with the Congress would depend on what it offers.
