Praja Rajyam to support Congress in RS polls

The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), founded by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, has decided to support Congress in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state, a move considered as a first step towards a long-term tie-up between the two parties.

A decision to this effect was taken at a PRP meeting chaired by Chiranjeevi at his residence here on Tuesday. This comes two days after Chiranjeevi met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi during which the contours of the new understanding were discussed.

The Congress, which has 156 legislators, sought PRP’s support for its fourth candidate to be fielded in the ensuing Rajya Sabha polls. In return, it promised that PRP’s nominee would be accommodated in the next round of elections to the Upper House in 2012.

“We have unanimously decided to support Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls. We hope this arrangement will continue in future,” senior PRP leader C Ramachandraiah told reporters. The PRP has 18 legislators in the 294-member Assembly. Of them, two MLAs from the Telangana region had rebelled against the party for its stand on integrated Andhra Pradesh.