Ahead of Telangana result, Congress front tells Governor it is one entity

The partners of the People's Front, a pre-poll political alliance formed by opposition parties under the leadership of Congress, on Monday urged Governor E S L Narasimhan to treat them as a single entity when he decides to invite a party or a combination of parties having the largest number of MLAs to form the next government in Telangana based on the election results to be announced on Tuesday.  

A delegation of the state heads of the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), among others, met the Governor on Monday afternoon and gave a representation to this effect, along with their common election manifesto and other documents substantiating their status as a pre-poll alliance. 

"Settling the question of who should be invited first to form the government in the event the election results are too close, the Supreme Court of India several times in the past clearly held that a pre-poll alliance of parties will have to be treated as a single entity for the purpose of counting the strength of each claimants to power. Some parties may come together after the elections to show the numbers. But only a pre-poll alliance will have the sanctity or the validity of being considered as a single entity that is deserved to be invited to form the government if its gets more seats. We told the same to the Governor," Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy said in a media conference after meeting with Governor Narasimhan.

Reddy said the People's Front has explained its status to the Governor just in case he has to figure out the single largest entity if the election's outcome poses such an ambiguity.  

Stating that their representation to the Governor was only a precautionary step, the People's Front leaders claimed that they were confident of getting a clear majority in the Assembly elections held on December 7. The counting of votes in Telangana and in the other four states that went to polls will take place on Tuesday.  

Meanwhile, the top leaders of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) expressed confidence that they were going to win more than 100 out of 119 seats in the state Assembly.