Parties hopeful of arriving at a solution in a couple of days

With time running out, the BJP State unit sounded out the central leadership to intervene and resolve the impasse on the proposed alliance with the TDP. The two sides are, however, optimistic about reaching an amicable agreement in the next couple of days and hopeful of a formal announcement by Ugadi day.

TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu also entered the scene by constituting a three-member panel comprising L. Ramana, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Motkupalli Narasimhulu of the party’s newly-constituted Telangana committee to hold parleys with the BJP leadership. The panel held the first round of deliberations with BJP leader G. Kishan Reddy and others on Saturday to break the deadlock on seat-sharing.

The TDP polit bureau is expected to take stock of the situation in a day or two. “Mr. Naidu wanted us to be prepared for any eventuality if the BJP remains adamant on its stand,” a panel member told The Hindu. This remark assumed significance in the light of Mr. Naidu’s comments that repeated insistence by the BJP on the number of seats without assessing the ground reality could lead to problems in ensuring an alliance with the BJP.

“The TDP has given several exemptions to the BJP despite knowing about the Telangana situation. But we cannot sacrifice our interests and play a second fiddle to the BJP,” Mr. Naidu is understood to have told the Telangana panel members. A member said Mr. Naidu assured them that he would take up the matter directly with senior BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, if need be, to resolve the impasse. BJP leader Prakash Javadekar held a series of meetings with the TDP leaders in the last couple of days, but could not break the deadlock. The BJP is insisting on nine Lok Sabha and 45 Assembly seats in Telangana and five Lok Sabha and 20 Assembly seats in Seemandhra.

The TDP, on its part, is firm that the BJP deserves not more than seven LS and 30 Assembly seats in Telangana and three LS and 10 Assembly seats in Seemandhra. “We tried our level best to arrive at a reasonable solution. But the expected response is not forthcoming from their (the TDP’s) side. The BJP may opt for going it alone if the deadlock in the talks is not resolved,” BJP spokesman N. Ramachandra Rao summed up.