TDP likely to stay away from Telangana Assembly polls

Hyderabad: The Telangana unit of Telugu Desam Party decided not to contest the November 30 Assembly polls, TDP sources said on Sunday.

The decision was conveyed to Telangana TDP president Kasani Gnaneswar when the latter met former Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababau Naidu at the Rajamahendravaram central prison in Andhra Pradesh.

Currently, Naidu is under judicial remand in the central prison for allegedly misappropriating funds from the AP Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.

Gnaneswar had earlier said TDP would contest the polls. He could not be reached for his comments.

The TDP which managed to win only two seats in the 2018 Assembly polls in Telangana polled 3.51 per cent of votes in the last Assembly elections. It had a pre-poll pact with the Congress and the CPI.

Actor-cum-politician Pawan Kalyan-led Janasena party which has tied up with the TDP in AP, has announced a list of 32 candidates for the Assembly polls. Janasena is an NDA partner.