Found A Friend

Savitri Choudhury March 08, 2004 00:00 IST Found A Friend -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

The warning was loud and clear. The rumble of firecrackers could be heard at NTR Bhawan—the Telugu Desam Party headquarters—as jubilant Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) cadre celebrated, a kilometre down the road, in front of their leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao's residence. The long anticipated Congress-TRS alliance had finally been forged. For supporters of the homeland demand, it was time to celebrate. For Chandrababu Naidu, it was a signal that the fight was getting that much tougher.

The sound of the crackers had barely died down and the chief minister was already issuing statements dubbing the alliance "a panic reaction of a frustrated Congress". Despite the brave words, the TDP's own reactions reveal just how seriously it views the new threat. Naidu held several meetings through the day to first monitor the formation of the alliance and then plan strategies to counter it.

Of the 107 assembly seats in Telangana, the TDP had won 52 seats last time. The BJP had cornered seven. As for Lok Sabha seats, the region accounts for 16, of which the TDP won eight and the...