CPI to join hands with TDP for local body polls in Andhra Pradesh

The Communist Party of India (CPI) will be tieing up with the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to contest the upcoming local body polls in Andhra Pradesh. The alliance has reportedly been forged to fight the ruling YSRCP, led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

As per reports, CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna, after a meeting with TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati, told media persons that the seat-sharing position is likely to be known in a day or two.

It may be noted that the left parties had allied with Pawan Kalyan’s JanaSena Party (JSP) to contest the general elections in 2019. However, earlier this year, the JSP joined hands with the BJP. The JSP-BJP alliance will be contesting all seats in the upcoming local body elections together. A manifesto is expected to be released soon.

Andhra Pradesh is scheduled to go to local polls between 21 March and 29 March in four phases. As per the schedule released by the State Election Commission, the MPTC/ZPTC elections will be held on 21 March while polls for municipal bodies will be held on 23 March. The Gram Panchayat elections will be held in two phases on 27 March and 29 March respectively. The results are slated to be announced on 29 March.