Former Kerala Chief Minister and person in-charge of Congress party affairs in Andhra Pradesh Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday that there was no “question of alliance” on the agenda of the party.
He was addressing the media after interacting with the A.P. Congress Coordination Committee here.
Asked whether the Congress would choose Telugu Desam or YSR Congress, Mr. Chandy said there would be no alliance.
“Congress wants to have an alliance with the people. For that, it will strengthen the party at the booth level and even go on a door-to-door campaign,” he said.
He said the people of the country were looking for a change because the Narendra Modi Government made many promises, but did not fulfil any, including Special Category Status (SCS) for A.P.
Mr. Chandy said the BJP government did not grant SCS to A.P. as part of a strategy. “But now, people of the State have understood the strategy and attitude of the BJP,” he added.
The TDP could not make the BJP grant SCS in over three years the two parties worked together.
“The TDP had enough time, but it could not bring pressure on the Centre to get what was due to the State,” he said.
Rising prices
AICC president Rahul Gandhi would forge a united front of democratic and secular parties in the country as an alternative to the BJP-led coalition, Mr. Chandy said.
The people wanted a change because the NDA government failed on all the fronts. It failed to keep the prices under check. The worst was the diesel and petrol prices. The BJP government increased the excise duty nine times and petroleum prices in India were the highest in the world, Mr. Chandy said.