All eyes on the kingmakers in Andhra

With just 10 days to go for the declaration of poll results, major political parties in Andhra Pradesh are tense about falling short of majority.This nervousness about a possible shortfall has spawned a market for kingmakers such as Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) that wants separate statehood for Telengana.

Though the ruling Congress is boldly insisting that there is no threat to its position this time, backroom boys say the party might fail to reach the magic figure of 148 in the 294-seat state Assembly. The TDP-led Grand Alliance or Mahakutami is believed to be ahead in the race with alliance partners including the CPI, the CPI-M and the TRS helping the party get closer to the magic number. However, there are indications that the TRS is mainly interested in supporting the party that promises it a Telangana state. “The alliance was formed with an objective of defeating the Congress. It has nothing to do with a separate Telangana. Each partner has their own stand on the issue,” senior CPI leader K Narayana said.

Hence, the two major parties in the state - the Congress and the TDP - have no option but to depend on ‘kingmakers’. According to sources in the Congress, the party will look to actor Chiranjeevi’s PRP in case it needs external support. However, Chiranjeevi is not thinking of playing kingmaker at least for now, since he is confident of getting more than 160 seats on his own and become the chief minister. Party insiders, however, believe the number won’t even be close to Chiranjeevi’s expectations.

According to sources, the party is considering a proposal to support the Congress and demand chiefministership for Chiranjeevi.

The feeling within Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP is that since TRS is the only partner that hasn’t still made a firm commitment, it could emerge kingmaker since it is trying to remain neutral to the TDP and the Congress.

Internal estimates by various parties project that theTDP-led grand alliance would get anywhere between 150 to 165 seats including 18 to 22 of the TRS. The PRP would get between 30 to 35 seats.Another 10 to 15 seats would go to other parties like the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Lok Satta, BJP and independents. However, not many are willing to agree that the Congress would end its show by just getting 80 to 90 seats.