Congress to go it alone in Telangana

: The Congress Sunday said it would contest all the 17 seats in Telangana for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on April 11.

"The AICC has decided to contest all the 17 seats. We have no formal alliance with any party in the state-level. For those seats where TJS, TDP, CPI and CPM and others have not fielded candidates, we appeal to them to extend support to the Congress nominees," All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana R C Khuntia told reporters here.

The Assembly elections in December last witnessed the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) burying their decades-old rivalry and forging an alliance 'Prajakutami' (People's Alliance), along with Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI), to take on the TRS.

But the alliance faced a drubbing at the hustings with the Congress finishing a distant second with 19 seats, while the TDP managed to bag two.

The TJS and CPI drew a blank.

The senior Congress leader further alleged that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is working towards totally demolishing the opposition and the democratic system.