Politics News: PRP ready for tie-up with any party

Prajarajyam party general secretary Allu Aravind on Thursday dismissed the exit poll predictions as inaccurate and misleading and said his party would support any coalition at the Centre that would protect the interests of Andhra Pradesh and PRP. Asserting that the results on May 16 will give the PRP 15 Lok Sabha and 160 assembly seats, Aravind said at a media conference that the party is ready to work with any coalition or party, including the TRS, in a post-poll scenario. "We will support any party that safeguards and protects the interests of the state and also the interests of our party. As of now, all parties feel that PRP has a major role to play at the Centre and the state as well. In politics, everyone is in need of everyone. So, no one needs to displease the other. Once the numbers are out, several permutations and combinations have to be worked out. Yes, we are also willing to work with the TRS if the need arises," he said. Denying that BJP leader L K Advani had telephoned party chief Chiranjeevi and sought his support for the NDA, Aravind said several seniors from other parties including the Congress were in touch with him. He said it would not be right on his part to spell out the names of these leaders without their consent. Debunking the theory put forth for the PRP by psephologists, Aravind questioned their credibility. "The post-poll exercise by a lot of news channels paints a very diverse picture. There is lot of variation in the predictions made by each of these channels and survey agencies. The whole exercise seems to be devoid of a socio-scientific approach and the small sample size itself is questionable," he rued. "One survey gave us zero Lok Sabha seats and another gave us five. The credibility of these psephologists is at stake. In 2004, most exit polls predicted a win for the NDA, but the results proved otherwise," he said. The PRP general secretary however scaled down the number of seats for his party from the earlier 292 to 160 saying, "I cannot give a conflicting number to that already announced by the party president. We will win 15 Lok Sabha and 160 assembly seats." Allu said the process of weeding out coverts in the party would start within a week from the announcement of election results. "It is a serious issue and we are very keen on it," he added.