Praja Rajyam Party to merge with Congress on Aug 20

Hyderabad: The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) will officially be merged with Congress on 20 August, according to PRP president Chiranjeevi. “We decided to officially merge Praja Rajyam with Congress on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajeev Gandhi. On August 20 and 21, senior party (PRP) leaders will take Congress party membership at Gandhi Bhavan,” Chiranjeevi told reporters here. [caption id=“attachment_60656” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The PRP, which has 18 seats in the 294-seat State Assembly, had announced the merger plans in February. AFP Photo”]  [/caption] Chiranjeevi was earlier scheduled to meet AICC chief Sonia Gandhi between  7 and 10 August, to formally take primary membership of Congress. However since Gandhi is undergoing treatment in USA, the PRP chief is expected to take Congress membership from Rahul Gandhi. The PRP, which has 18 seats in the 294-seat State Assembly, had announced the merger plans in February. The PRP has already technically merged with the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh, even though a public meeting could not be organised to formalise the amalgamation. The current political uncertainty in the state over the bifurcation issue has jeopardised Chiranjeevi’s plans to organise a grand meeting with Sonia or Rahul Gandhi to formalise the merger. PTI