In a significant development, talks between the Congress and the CPI scheduled for Saturday were put off after Telangana PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah was summoned to Delhi by the central leadership.
The two sides were supposed to resume talks on Saturday night to thrash out the issue of seat-sharing pertaining to contentious constituencies. Surprisingly, message was sent across to the CPI leadership that the meeting was cancelled as the TPCC chief was rushing to Delhi.
“The TPCC president has been summoned to Delhi by the top leadership. Hence the meeting has been put off,” a top TPCC functionary said adding that the party wanted to take a final call on the finalisation of the candidates for Assembly and Lok Sabha. The Congress leadership may get in touch with the CPI central leaders in New Delhi, it is understood.
Sources in the TPCC said that the talks between the two parties, which had almost reached climax, should have been completed tonight. There was near unanimity on a majority of seats, but the two sides did not come to an understanding on some seats. The talks were held up at this stage, a source said. The CPI wanted one LS seat and 17 Assembly seats, while the Congress was initially keen on conceding one LS seat and seven to 11 Assembly seats.
It is understood that the Congress leadership reportedly delayed further consultations obviously with the speculation that it was keen on alliance with the TRS. In case the Congress-CPI alliance had been settled, it would have become difficult for the central leadership to hold talks with the TRS on the electoral tie-up, a Congress leader remarked.
Sources in the CPI said they were upset by the attitude of the Congress as they felt that the Congress was deliberately delaying coming to an understanding on the issue.
