Hyderabad, May 15 - Despite being together for long in the campaign for separate statehood, pro-Telangana parties TRS and BJP are engaged in a battle for supremacy over next month's bye-election to the Parkal assembly seat.

Both the parties have announced that they would contest the bypoll to Parkal in Warangal district scheduled to be held on June 12.

Senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya told reporters here today that the party would announce its candidate in a day or two.

The decision of the two parties to cross swords in the bye-election is seen as a setback to the unity of pro-Telangana forces.

Both TRS and BJP have been members of the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC), which also comprises several people's organisations like Telangana employees unions, but the ties between the two parties soured since the bypoll to the Mahabubnagar assembly segment in March last.

BJP defeated TRS in Mahabubnagar, which was seen as a setback to the latter as Mahabubnagar is represented in Lok Sabha by its president K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Political observers claim that TRS fears threat to its dominance in Telangana region from BJP, which has been a strong supporter of the separate statehood demand.

In the wake of BJP's victory in Mahabubnagar, a war of words erupted between the two parties. TRS, which fielded a minority candidate in the Mahabubnagar bypoll, alleged that the saffron party gave a communal colour to the election.

Dismissing the TRS' charge, senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya alleged that the TRS was not able to digest the victory of BJP in Mahabubnagar assembly bye-election.

Parkal is among the 18 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh where the bypolls are scheduled for June 12. It is the only assembly segment in Telangana region among the 18 constituencies.

Bypoll in Parkal is necessitated as the sitting Congress MLA Konda Surekha was disqualified by the assembly Speaker for switching loyalty to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and voting against the Congress government during a floor test in December last.

Meanwhile, the battle between the TRS and BJP put the the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC) in a fix as it cannot afford to take either side. PTI