Alliance with Cong a democratic compulsion, says Chandrababu Naidu

Agencies

October 7, 2018

Amaravati, Oct 7: Justifying his party's alliance with Congress, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu Saturday claimed it was a 'democratic compulsion' due to 'historic reasons' and was done after TRS spurned his offer for a tie up.

Naidu also indicated that Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao poured cold water on his plans to emerge as a potent force in south India by aligning the TDP and TRS.

The TDP tied up with Congress only after Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao spurned his offer for a tie-up, he said.

"I proposed (to KCR) that we two should unite. Congress will be restricted to Karnataka. BJP and Congress have no place in Tamil Nadu.

The two Telugu states will have the upper hand in south India if TDP and the TRS joined hands. He told me he will think it over and a week later turned down my offer," Naidu said.

He was addressing a meeting of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party here this evening.

A release from the TDP later gave a gist of what Naidu spoke to his party MPs.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister said political alliances were dictated by democratic compulsions.

"We had no other option except to align with non-BJP forces as the BJP was working against us. We have to fight the injustice the Centre meted out to the state and we need support at the national level for this.

Hence, we decided to go with like-minded parties," he was quoted as saying.

Rao wanted that the TDP contest the elections in Telangana and opposed any alliance with the Congress, he said.

"By then I realized he (KCR) fell into someone else's hands," Naidu said, apparently an indirect reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It was only due to historic reasons that TDP allied with parties that came forward in Telangana, he claimed, referring to the 'Maha Kutami' (grand alliance) of TDP-Congress-CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti.

He also said that the BJP unilaterally broke its alliance with the TDP in Telangana.

"The seed for weakening the TDP was sown then. BJP had a secret pact with (YSR Congress president) Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh and KCR in Telangana," he alleged.

"The TDP's only objective is the well-being of Telugus, wherever they are. NTR established the TDP only for the Telugus," Naidu said.

The TDP chief also spoke about the need to forge an alternative front at the national level.

"We have only five-six months for this.We have to hold conclaves across the country on issues like Centre-state relations, farmers' problems and Rafale deal," he told the TDP MPs.

He recalled that 105 MPs had resigned from their posts en masse on the Bofors scandal.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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