Cong-TC alliance in a day or two: Cong

NEW DELHI: The alliance between Congress and Trinamool Congress to take on the ruling Left Front in Lok Sabha poll in West Bengal could be
announced in a day or two.

"Talks are going on...These are on the right track. I will get back to you with some announcement on the alliance in a day or two," AICC in-charge of West Bengal K Keshava Rao told reporters at the AICC headquarters here.

Rao visited the Left-ruled state recently and had talks with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as also with other Congress leaders.

The Congress leader described the talks as "positive". "I am confident that the alliance would work out," he said.

Asked how many seats would be acceptable to Congress and what will be the formula of seat-sharing in the state, Rao said "it would be a respectable figure" but declined to divulge what will be acceptable to the party.

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CPM MP Abdullakutty expelled for praising Modi

KANNUR: CPM MP from Kannur A P Abullakutty, who had praised Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's development model, was on Saturday expelled
from the party on the charge of breach of discipline by "joining class enemies".

The action against the two-time Lok Sabha member was taken by CPM's Kannur district committee which accused him of repeated breach of discipline by joining the "class enemies", party sources said.

The 44-year-old MP had embarrassed CPM by stating that the efforts of Modi to bring development to his state were worthy of emulation, even as he did not agree with his "anti-minority" approach.

The move came a day after the suspended Lok Sabha member said he had 'technically ceased' to be a party member as he had not renewed his membership and could decide the future step on his own.

He was suspended from the party membership for one year on January 17 after the district committee found his reply "unsatisfactory" to the explanation sought from him about his remarks praising Modi's development model.

CPM found that by his "anti-party" comments Abudllakutty had "forfeited" his last chance to "correct the mistake" and remain in the party, the sources said.

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TDP strongman Subba Reddy joins Congress

HYDERABAD: In a move that would change political equations in Kurnool district, TDP's sitting MLA and regional strongman S V Subba Reddy has quit
the party and joined the Congress.

The development has been balanced somewhat with Manganti Venkateswara Rao (Babu), who till recently was a minister in Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's cabinet, resigning from the Congress and joining the TDP with both events happening late Friday evening.

Subba Reddy was the only TDP MLA to get elected from the entire Kurnool district in the 2004 elections. In all, he was elected MLA five times from Kurnool and was the man who converted TDP into a force to reckon with in the district.

His daughter Sobha Nagai Reddy and son-in-law Bhooma Nagai Reddy quit TDP a few months ago and joined Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi.

With Subba Reddy's exit from the party, TDP has been weakened in Kurnool which is one of the key areas of Rayalseema region.

Subba Reddy's son Mohan Reddy and former chairman of Zilla Parishad B Venkataramudu also joined Congress on Friday.

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IIT, IIM alumni to contest 40 Lok Sabha seats

LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Punarnirman Dal (BPD) - a political outfit floated by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of
Management (IIM) alumni - will contest the Lok Sabha election from at least 40 seats across the country, a party leader said Saturday.

"We are all geared to contesting the election. Till now, we have only announced eight candidates," BPD national working committee member Omendra Bharat said over telephone from Kanpur.

Candidates have been named for four seats in Uttar Pradesh, two in Delhi and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, said Bharat, a graduate from IIT-Kanpur.

Asked about the party's poll plank, Bharat said: "Growing terrorism and issues like education and jobs will be high on our agenda."

Formed in December 2006, BPD contested, without success, five seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2007. "We got 1.5-2 percent of the total votes," said Bharat.

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