Hyderabad: Contours of a ‘Grand Alliance’ of opposition in Telangana have started emerging with the top state leaders of Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) holding a crucial meeting in Hyderabad.

What is being perceived as an upset for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) the three parties reached an agreement on the need of a broad based alliance to defeat the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti in the coming elections. The state Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, state TDP president L Ramanna and CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy attended the meeting at Park Hyatt hotel in the backdrop of efforts to bring anti-TRS forces together in the forthcoming elections.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Congress was ready to work with all like-minded parties, mass organisations and employees’ unions and organisations of the unemployed youth. “We have to put an end to this misrule of K Chandrasekhar Rao government,” he said.

“We are all united in our purpose of putting an end to the dictatorial rule of K Chandrasekhar Rao”, Ramanna told the media after the meeting.

Venkat Reddy charged KCR with trampling over the democratic rights of the people and misusing power to encourage defections from other parties.

When asked about the formation of a grand alliance, the leaders said it the meeting was just a first step and the talks will continue among the parties.

According to the sources the discussions today focused on identifying the constituencies where their respective parties had a strong position and points to be included in their manifestos.

The meeting came close on the heels of TDP national president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visiting Hyderabad and authorising Telangana state leadership to take the process of forming alliance with other parties forward.

Ramanna had already held separate talks with leaders of the CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) of Prof Kodandaram over the last couple of days and all parties agreed upon the need to form an alliance.

After the meeting the delegation of the three parties called on Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan and demanded removal of acting Chief Minister KCR to ensure the democratic process runs smoothly in the state.

The opposition delegation urged the governor to dismiss the KCR government and impose President rule in the state. They expressed fear that free and fair election will not be possible under KCR as he will misuse power for the benefit of the TRS.

Uttam Kumar Reddy later said the opposition parties have expressed their concern to the governor over abuse of power by KCR for the benefit of TRS. Referring to the press conference addressed by KCR after the dissolution of Assembly, they said KCR had openly claimed that he had discussed with Central Election Commission to hold the elections in November 2018 and form the government in December. “This is against the principles of democracy and against the Constitution of India. Holding of elections and formation of government is the duty of Election Commission (EC) and not the ruling party,” he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said Prime Minister Narender Modi, KCR and the EC appear to be in connivance to suppress people’s democratic rights. He said that the poll panel had announced the schedule for revision of electoral rolls on September 1. The entire process was to be completed by January 1.

On September 7, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat denied having spoken to KCR. Despite giving a denial and without sending its team to Telangana, the Election Commission has revised the schedule for revision of electoral rolls and now it plans to complete the process by ‪October 8. He said there were several deficiencies in the electoral rolls with more than 2.1 million names missing from the lists. He said the haste with which the EC has revised the schedule indicated that it was being manipulated by KCR. “People should realise that a serious attempt is being made to suppress their democratic and fundamental rights,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.