Will Owaisi bring Congress and YSR Congress closer?

HYDERABAD: As new political alliances are on the anvil ahead of the general elections, MIM president AssaduddinOwaisi's meeting with the AICC president Sonia Gandhi has stoked speculations that the Hyderabad MP was brokering peace between the Congress and YSR Congress.

The meeting assumed political significance also because it was the first time that Assaduddin was calling on Sonia Gandhi after his party pulled out of UPA in November last year over a local issue, following which the squabbling between MIM and Congress turned murky and culminated in Akbaruddin Owaisi, Assaduddin's brother and Chandrayanagutta MLA, landing in jail for his hate speech.

At the outset, the purpose of the meeting was to advocate Rayala-Telangana, if division of the state was unavoidable, and dissent to accord union territory status to Hyderabad. But, sources of his party said Assududdin discussed AP politics with the Congress president which was indicative of the possible changes in the equations between the parties in the state.

"Before brokering peace for anyone else, Owaisi has to make peace with the Congress. And I think Wednesday's meeting was a part of it. We cannot rule out new partnerships, as many foes are waiting on wings to turn friends," said an MIM leader.

In a similar situation, in June last year, Assaduddin Owaisi had met YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy at Chanchalguda jail where the latter is serving term as an under trail in a slew illegal asset cases, and convinced him to support the Congress Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee.

"While politics in AP is in a state of flux amid the turbulence over the state division issue, the Congress is devising two-prong strategy for Seemandhra and Telangana. It is eying an alliance with the YSR Congress in Seemandhra, and a partnership with the TRS in Telangana. In both the areas, the national part wants the MIM to be the common friend," said a senior Congress leader.

According to him, a grand alliance of the Congress, TRS, MIM, and CPI was on cards for Telangana, and a partnership is yet to be stitched for Seemandhra.

The idea of the grand alliance for Telangana took wings after Assududdin called the TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao earlier this month after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolved in favour of the separate state. The TRS sources even said Assuddin had met KCR at his farm house in Medak and discussed various aspects of politics in the backdrop of the proposed bifurcation of the state.

However, no party is willing to confirm the news at this nascent stage. While Assaduddin decline to respond, YSR Congress MP Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy said it was too early to talk about the electoral alliances.

"I would not be surprised if Owaisi and Sonia talked politics. What else two politicians can talk about when they meet?" said Rajmohan Reddy. "I am not even ruling out the possibility of alliance which could be post-poll or even pre-poll, but it is not the time to talk about it. Let this division tide run out and the situation come to normalcy."

Admitting to the talks that his party was engaging with the other political parties, a TRS politburo member of TRS B Vinod Kumar said the deliberations were on the division issue as it was the top priority in the given situation.

"Formation of Telangana state is the priority for now, the TRS is just focusing on it. Once the statehood is achieved, the elections are the next destination and we will think of the strategy. If the alliance is in the interest of the party and Telangana people, then we would consider it," said Vinod Kumar.