Give Me 25 Seats, Take 250 Crores: Chandrababu To Congress?
Hyderabad: Telugu Desam party chief, Chandrababu Naidu is learnt to have demanded 25 assembly and 5 Lok Sabha seats to seal a deal with Congress for the upcoming assembly elections. In exchange, sources say, Chandrababu offered to fund Congress candidates to the extent of Rs.250 crores.
It is learnt that Chandrababu is trying to drive a hard bargain to regain a foothold in the state of Telangana. He reckons that it would help him put the notes for votes case to rest, analysts say.
The TDP chief, reportedly wants to protect the interests of people close to him, as also their properties in Hyderabad. Keeping this in mind, and to try to have a say in the state administration, he is trying to push his luck as far as he can, according to political observers.
It may be recalled that during the MLC elections in Telangana, an audio tape in his voice seeking to buy votes, landed Chandrababu Naidu and the TDP in a big soup, out of which he has not been able to wriggle out as yet. The talk is that Chandrababu is prepared to spend huge amounts to gain political muscle and extricate himself from this case. It has widely been speculated that the TDP chief tried a similar strategy in Karnataka against BJP candidates to try to ensure their defeat by colluding with the Congress and JDS.
Chandrababu is reported to have brainwashed his party leaders in Telangana saying that tying up with the Congress was the only survival strategy in the current circumstances. He is learnt to have told party leaders in Telangana that the BJP and TRS had come together in a secret pact and it was necessary for the TDP to fight the elections along with the Congress to counter them.
Chandrababu is also reported to have told the local TDP leaders that the party would help them with funding. He is learnt to have said that the Telangana TDP leaders will finalise the list of candidates. The buzz in political circles is that Chandrababu had managed to convince Congress leaders in Delhi first about the advantage of fighting together in Telangana. The Congress high command in Delhi, is learnt to have exerted pressure on its Telangana leaders to forge a pact with the TDP to take on the BJP and TRS in the state.
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