HYDERABAD: As expected the Praja Rajyam Party has decided not to contest the bypolls for 10 Assembly seats in the Telangana region.
"We have decided not to contest the byelections. PRP workers and Chiranjeevi fans can vote in the polls according to their will," PRP Political Affairs Committee member Kotagiri Vidyadhara Rao said here today.
Talking to newsmen at the party office, Vidyadhara Rao said the by-elections were not a referendum on Telangana issue.
"The Telangana Rashtra Samiti is provoking the people by stirring up the regional sentiment," he alleged.
Everyone should respect the report of Justice Srikrishna Committee that was studying the situation in Andhra Pradesh, he added.
The Praja Rajyam Party has been reduced to nothing in the Telangana region after it changed its stand in support of a unified Andhra Pradesh. The party could win only two seats in Telangana in the 2009 general elections but both the MLAs walked out of PRP protesting the pro-unified state stand.
Though PRP chief K Chiranjeevi declared his intention to tour the Telangana region to muster support for a unified Andhra Pradesh, he could not venture because of the stiff opposition he faced from separatist groups.
Given the antagonism it faces in Telangana, the PRP decided to stay away from the bypolls.(PTI)
