The Telugu Desam Party-led Grand Alliance in Andhra Pradesh got a major boost on Saturday with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti formally announcing its decision to join the alliance.
The TRS had been holding political negotiations with both the Grand Alliance and Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, accompanied by other party leaders, met TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu today afternoon and formally joined the alliance.
Though both sides are keeping the number of seats to be shared by them under wraps, sources said that the TDP has agreed to give up 9 Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region to the TRS.
Though the PRP had agreed to give TRS its desired number of seats, the party decided to join hands with the TDP as many senior leaders felt that only Naidu's party had the strength to defeat the ruling Congress.
After meeting Naidu, Rao told the reporters, "Our alliance is going to sweep the elections in the state. We will win at least 200 seats. The Congress will certainly be defeated".
He added that the details of the seat sharing agreement will be announced at a public meeting.
TDP leader Yerran Naidu said that the main purpose of the alliance was to defeat the Congress in the upcoming state elections. The TDP has recently reversed its stand on the issue and announced its support for the creation of Telangana.
The TRS received another shot in the arm today when the Talli Telangana, led by actress Vijayshanti, deciding to merge with it.
Vijayshanti, who had earlier walked out of the Bharatiya Janata Party and formed her own party, accepted the primary membership of TRS in the presence of Chandrasekhara Rao.