Former minister Damodar Reddy on Tuesday predicted that the Congress would bite the dust in the Telangana region if it went for any alliance with the Praja Rajyam Party before K Chiranjeevi made his stand clear on the Telangana statehood issue.
Talking to media persons at the media point on the Assembly premises, Damodar Reddy said that though PRP President K Chiranjeevi had taken the stand of an integrated Andhra Pradesh, he would have to clarify whether he would stick to this stand if he entered into an alliance with the Congress.
The senior Telangana leader said that the ruling party stood to gain in all the 3 regions of the state if the PRP merged with the Congress. However, if the PRP joined the government without a merger, the impact on the Congress would be adverse, said Damodar Reddy.
The senior leader stated that a merger between the 2 parties would mean that the PRP cadre would follow the Congress high command, and agree to any decision the Congress took on the separate Telangana state issue. He said that the PRP joining the government would mean that the party's stand vis-a-vis integrated Andhra Pradesh remained undiluted.
This, Damodar Reddy stated, would be harmful to the Congress, particularly in Telangana region. He pointed out that Chiranjeevi should make his stand clear on joining the government or merging his party with the Congress.
The former minister's statement comes a day after the high command invited Chiranjeevi to New Delhi, ostensibly to chart out the modalities of any future alliance.
Damodar Reddy went on to say that he saw no threat to the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state. He added that the Congress high command had sought the support of PRP in the event of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy deciding to test the government's strength.
He predicted that the Congress would be uprooted in Telangana if it failed to introduce the Telangana bill in the budget session of the Parliament.