Telangana Cong leaders may not back Pranab

Despite Congress asking its loyalists in Telangana to back Pranab Mukherjee for the Presidential elections, party men deeply aggrieved by the former Finance Minister’s uncompromising negotiation style during Telangana talks appeared in no mood to back him.

Congress leaders admit Pranab Mukherjee’s hard stance during negotiations has made him unpopular amongst Telangana leaders and the justification that he was acting on behalf of the party and the government during the negotiation has been flatly rejected by the emotionally charged Telangana members, who accuse the UPA Presidential candidate of being “rude” to them during the negotiations for a separate state.

To avoid the possible crisis, top Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vayalar Ravi, Veerappa Moily and A K Antony have been asked to remain in touch with the voting block from Andra Pradesh and monitor the situation.

The leaders are confident of winning them over eventually.

Party rules

“They are Congressmen and know what should they do,” said a senior Andhra Pradesh leader, who expressed hope that the dissentors would support Pranab Mukherjee because they are from Congress.

Pranab is also confident of winning over the state opposition Telugu Desam and YSR Congress which are unlikely to side with the BJP.  

Chandrababu Naidu has so far remained silent about which way he would go in the Presidential elections, leaving the possibility of abstinence wide open.

Similarly, Jagan will be wary of the large minority votes he would need to capture power in the state, which would prompt him to stay away from supporting NDA candidate Sangma.

The party is unlikely to view this as a do or die situation since cross voting is allowed in the polls.