The roadmap for a pre-poll alliance between the Jana Sena Party, the CPI and the CPI(M) was set in motion by the leaders of these parties at a meeting in a private resort here on Friday.
The meeting was attended by JSP president Pawan Kalyan and party leader Nadendla Manohar, CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy and State secretary K. Ramakrishna, and CPI(M) polit bureau members B.V. Raghavulu and P. Madhu.
Addressing the media after a four-hour-long closed-door meeting, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said the three parties shared a common thought process and steps had been taken to consolidate that into an alliance.
“Today, we have discussed various people’s issues and we share a common concern. The next step is to firm up an action plan for the coming Assembly elections. Issues such as seat-sharing and other modalities will be discussed in February,” Mr. Pawan Kalyan said.
Confirming the “alliance in the making,” Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said, “The outcome of the meeting has been good and we will forge an alliance to keep the TDP and the BJP out of power in the State and at the Centre. We are ready to form an alliance with anybody to keep the BJP out of power at the Centre.”
‘Not averse to Cong.’
Talking about an alliance with the Congress, he said, “We cannot form a non-BJP government at the Centre without having an alliance with the Congress, and so we are open to it.”
‘No’ to KCR’s front
On whether they would consider joining the Federal Front (a non-BJP and a non-Congress outfit) being proposed by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chadrasekhara Rao, he said, “KCR’s front is the ‘B’ team of the BJP, and so there is no question of going with it.”
Mr. Raghavulu said they discussed issues such as illegal mining, bauxite mining policy, land acquisition policy and concerns over EVMs.
“We have decided to ask the government to constitute an impartial committee to inquire into the functioning of the EVMs,” he added.
“Pollution is another issue that has come up for discussion, and it will be a major point in our election manifesto,” said Mr. Pawan Kalyan.
Environmental issues were having an adverse impact on every aspect, including agriculture and health, he said, and added that it was time we paid attention to it.