Congress building a ‘Cross’ for Jagan

                                                                                        

Congress launches whisper campaign in YSRC strongholds in an attempt to alienate a particular caste from Jagan Mohan Reddy

The Congress leaders are learnt to have worked out a scheme to ensure that the Reddy votes are no longer available to the YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy. This strategy is to be implemented immediately.

There is a whisper campaign across the State, especi­ally in Seemandhra, that the YSRC Chief cannot be considered a Re­­ddy as he believes in Christianity.

The Congress leaders suggested to the Reddy leaders that Jagan not being from the community should be made public.

It was found from the Kovur constituency that Prasanna Kumar Reddy, the YSRC candidate won the election as the Reddys were behind him.The sizeable victory margin was possible as a Reddy representative rather than Jagan’s candidate. Taking this as a cue some senior Congress leaders want to deprive him the double benefit.

“YSR did not belong to any particular caste. He is above caste and creed. Before defaming Jagan the Congress leaders should know the caste and religion of their leaders,” retorted senior YSRC leader Bajireddy Goverdhan Reddy. He said that the Congress was unable to face the popularity of Jagan and now they want to use the caste card. This will make Jagan more popular and they will win all 18 seats and one parliament seat, he said.

from postnoon 

Notification for byelections soon

                                                                          
he Election Commission is going to introduce the short message system (SMS) shortly in the state to check poll irregularities. Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal addressed officials in the district at the district collector’s offices at Vizag and Srikakulam on Tuesday in connection with the bypolls in Narasannapet and Payakaraopet constituencies,
He said that the notification for bypolls in all 18 constituencies would be released shortly and instructed officials to speed up the process of preparing voters’ lists. He also said they will allocate five toll-free numbers and anybody can send an SMS to these numbers about any untoward incident at polling stations; details of the sender would be kept confidential.
He also said that they have been stepping up measures to conduct fair polls across the state. He asked people who have attained 18 years of age to obtain voter identity cards. These would be provided within 10 days, free of cost.
He said that they had deputed booth level officials for verification and they would take up door-to-door visits and ascertain the facts.
He also appealed to agents of political parties to accompany them to speed up the process and also to avoid future complications. He said that they had already given instructions to avoid paid articles in the media and action would be initiated against those who violated the guideline.
He also said that they had accelerated the process of issuing cards to voters.
from dc

Vayalar Ravi against targeting YSR

                                                                   
HYDERABAD: Union minister and Congress high command's emissary to the state, Vayalar Ravi, is against targeting the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in the attempt to take on YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the coming byelections.

Ravi is said to have made an assessment of the cold war between chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana, and the threat from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to the party in coastal districts. He is expected to brief party high command over the schisms in the party and the kind of intervention that is required to set the house in order.

"YSR was a friend of mine. It is not fair to talk about him as he is no more," Ravi said. It appears that he is afraid of the backlash from people if the Congress launches an invective against YSR. He, however, called Jagan Mohan Reddy a political upstart. "He is a boy," he said, but clarified that he was not calling him a 'batcha'.

Though Ravi asserted that his mission was only to infuse new life into the party and not go into leadership issues, there is speculation that Ravi's visit is one step closer to effecting a change of guard. Those who met and appraised him of the running feud between the chief minister and the PCC chief left with the impression that he was making his own assessment of how the rift was damaging party interests.

For the record, Ravi says he was deputed to AP by the party high command since Ghulam Nabi Azad was busy. Meanwhile, Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar, who called on Ravi, said the party should come out with a decision in favour of Telangana state soon. Prabhakar said Telangana MPs would meet Ravi in a delegation on Wednesday. Ravi later said his job was not to go into the Telangana debate.

Even as Ravi landed in Hyderabad on Monday night, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was away in Delhi. Earlier, he spent a busy day at the conference on internal security. Ravi said he would consult Kiran Reddy when he arrives on Wednesday on what should be done to make the party alive. Though Ravi denies there were serious differences in the party, he, however, admits there was a threat form Jagan Mohan Reddy. 

from ibn

Ravi flooded with complaints

                                                                            
Congress high command emissary Vayalar Ravi was flooded with complaints from Congress leaders and cadres over lack of coordination between the government and party and the deteriorating image of the party due to various scams. Mr Ravi is on a three-day mission to meet local leaders and get some idea of the ground realities in the state.
He met over 200 party leaders and cadre at the Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday. He made it clear that his mission was not to change the Chief Minister or the PCC president, between whom there has been considerable friction, but merely to try and strengthen the party from the grassroots level, sort out differences, revive the party, and prepare for the byelections in 18 Assembly constituencies and the general elections later.
This did not deter some party leaders from pushing for a change of guard, arguing that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has failed to run the government, and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana has been tainted by the liquor scam. They said lack of coordination between the two damaged the party and cadres were frustrated with the delay in filling nominated posts and looking towards other parties.
Telangana Congress leaders Ponnam Prabhakar, ex-MLC Kamalakar, PCC general secretary G. Niranjan and others, who had their own axe to grind, said that if the Centre failed to carve out a separate state of Telangana, the party will be wiped out in the region. They were opposed by minister Sailajanath, who supported an undivided state, and PCC general secretary Abid Rasool Khan, who feared the rise of the BJP if Telangana state became a reality.
Mr Ravi, whose visit will last for three days, told party leaders, “You can air your opinions freely on any issue. But give me a correct picture so that I can submit a comprehensive report to party president Sonia Gandhi.” While the CM is in New Delhi, Mr Satyanarayana, J.C. Diwakar Reddy, Gade Venkat Reddy, Paladugu Venkat Rao, V. Hanumantha Rao, T. Niranjan, Rudra Raju Padma Raju and others met Mr Ravi. Several leaders told Mr Ravi that the party should take a clear stand against Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy who has floated the rival YSR Congress.
from dc

Outcome of AP bypolls to set course for next LS polls?

                                                                            
Outcome of the impending by-elections to 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat will set the course for the next general elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Essentially though, the by-elections will determine the longevity of N Kiran Kumar Reddy as Chief Minister as well as the fate of the ruling Congress in the state.
Kiran only managed to prolong his innings by ensuring that bypolls to these 18 seats were not held along with the seven in March or else his fate would have been sealed by now.
He has, however, been put under notice by the Congress high command to ensure the party romps home at least in half of the 18 seats now, failing which -- to put it in Kiran's own lingo -- he will lose his wicket.
If the Congress fares miserably, much like the by-elections to seven Assembly seats in March, the survival of the government itself may be in peril.
The stakes would be too high for the Congress in the by-elections as 16 of these 18 Assembly seats and the Nellore Lok Sabha seat were won by it in 2009 general elections. The balance two were won by the Praja Rajyam Party, which merged with Congress recently.
If the YSR Congress (YSRC), headed by Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, manages to hold its sway and bag a majority of seats in the bypolls as being largely predicted, the “fence-sitters” in Congress will not have a second thought in jumping over to the other side, only to protect their political careers.
 from the Indian express