Sources close to the Congress Party State headquarters in Hyderabad say that despite the recent poll debacle, the national party is unlikely to sever its relation/poll alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

TDP and Congress, which fight against each other in Andhra Pradesh, struck what many thought was a ‘strategic alliance’ in Telangana mainly with the objective of upsetting the apple-cart of the ruling Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) led Govt. in the State headed by K. Chandrasekhara Rao.

In the recently concluded Assembly polls, the Congress-TDP combine fared badly, winning just 21 out of the 119 seats it contested from. TRS won a thumping number of 88 seats to claim more than two-thirds majority in the Assembly, thus retaining power. Analysts pointed out that the Congress might review its alliance with the TDP which is seen to be the ‘weak link’ in the alliance. TJS and CPI were the other parties in the 4-party ‘Kutami’.

Congress general secretary R.C. Khuntia (in-charge of Telangana affairs) told newsmen in Hyderabad that as of now, there was no instruction from the party high-command to review the alliance. When queried whether the alliance would be together for next year’s Parliamentary polls, Khuntia said there was lot of time left to decide that.