Indrakaran's exit likely to affect Congress badly

                                                                                                  

The Congress in the district has seen many ups and downs but the impending exit of senior leader and former MP, A. Indrakaran Reddy, is likely to have quite an impact and show the party in poor light.

In protest

Mr Reddy's exit is expected to affect a large chunk of the party's leaders and cadres and may force many of them to quit the party along with him on May 2, protesting the Congress' ‘refusal' to carve out Telangana.

The event will be unique because of the number of party men alienating themselves from the ruling party on this issue.

In a district where the separate Telangana sentiment is very strong, the move of Mr. Reddy is likely to affect the prospects of the Congress.

Experienced leader

Mr. Indrakaran Reddy, it may be recalled, was the first convenor of the Telangana Regional Congress Committee (TRCC), an entity that championed the cause of a separate State.

He claims to have worked hard in lobbying for the cause with the party's high command in Delhi, including meeting the party president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“The current crop of leaders such as Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana are busy in selfish politics. As they are pre-occupied in saving their positions, it is no wonder that they have no time either for Telangana or for dedicated seniors in the party,” Mr. Reddy told The Hindu .

Paints bleak picture

The senior leader said that the fortunes of the Congress in the State would take a major hit after the 18 Assembly by-elections in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

He predicted that more Congress men would desert the party as the results were likely to go in favour of the YSR Congress Party.

‘Sinking ship'

“Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was also forced to quit the party,” he said, trying to equate his present condition with that of the former Chief Minister's son. “The Congress will be rendered a sinking ship by the YSRCP after the by-elections,” he observed.

from hindu

Stop YSR bashing, Ravi tells Congress

                                                                                      
HYDERABAD: Vayalar Ravi, the AICC observer who left for New Delhi on Friday after his five-day visit to Andhra Pradesh, has reportedly asked state Congress leaders to refrain from YSR-bashing during the byelection campaign. Instead, he has asked them to take the state government's programmes and policies to the people through door-to-door campaigns.

"We should win over the people by talking about all the programmes our government has taken up over the years," he said. But as to Jaganmohan Reddy, Ravi has apparently asked his party leaders to take the YSR Congress head on.

Ravi landed in Hyderabad on Monday night following complaints of lack of coordination between chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana.

During his stay, Ravi met several party leaders and stressed on the need to work together ahead of the bypolls.

He also asked Congress leaders to already launch the election campaign without first waiting for the announcement of the list of candidates.

On the last day of his visit, Ravi had a meeting with the coordination committees of Anantapur and Guntur districts.

The meeting took place at the chief minister's camp office and had both the CM and the PCC chief in attendance. The AICC observer is expected to visit the state again next week to review the situation in the faction-ridden Congress party. Speaking to TOI, Ravi said it was the responsibility of the chief minister and PCC president to lead the party in the bypolls.

"The party is intact and the party workers are enthusiastic. What is needed is a little motivation. I am satisfied with my field visit to East and West Godavari districts where local leaders assured me that they would work for the party's victory in the bypolls," he said.

The AICC observer, who has received complaints and suggestions from MPs, MLAs, MLCs, ministers and other Telangana leaders, is expected to submit his report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. But, his mission appears to be incomplete.

He will visit the state again to have one more round of discussions with the leaders. "I am planning to visit some more districts. I will take a break from the Parliament to visit the state for a couple more days, most probably next week," he said.
from times of india

YSR had never opposed Telangana

                                                                              
HYDERABAD: Former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was never against statehood for the Telangana region, senior Congress leader R Damodar Reddy� said here on Thursday, contradicting BC welfare minister B Saraiah’s comments.

Saraiah had told a gathering in Warangal earlier in the day that he planned to a organise meeting for Telangana on being threatened by Rajasekhara Reddy.

Responding to it, Damodar Reddy recalled that it was Rajasekhara Reddy who had organised a huge meeting with 10 lakh people in 1998 for separate Telangana. He had constituted a committee with Narsa Reddy as its head and encouraged it to write a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi in 2001 demanding a separate state of Telangana.

“Rajasekhara Reddy never spoke against Telangana and always helped us,” Damodar Reddy claimed. It was not good to talk bad about him now, the former minister said.

He, however, wanted the Congress high command to instil some confidence in Telangana leaders that the region would be granted statehood sooner or later. “Setting deadlines for Telangana is not good. But, the Congress high command should instil some confidence in us,” Damodar Reddy said and added that the central government should commit to its December 9, 2009 statement.

Radha to join YSR Congress on April 27

                                                                                  
VIJAYAWADA: Ending the speculation and suspense, former MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna has declared that he will join YSR Congress on April 27 in the presence of party chief and Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy.

Addressing a press conference at a hotel here on Thursday, Radhakrishna said he would be joining the YSRCP since his family was neglected by the Congress. “My father and our family were not shown any respect by the Congress though my father strengthened the party. Not even his photograph can be found in Gandhi Bhavan. It shows how much respect is given to a leader who toiled for the party and won many seats for it,” he said.

Recently, Ranga Radha Mitra Mandali, an association of the followers of Ranga family, has announced that its leader will be joing Jagan’s party. Radha, who was elected to the Assembly for the first tme in 2004 from Vijayawada East on Congress ticket, contested the subsequent election 2009 on Praja Rajyam ticket but lost the election. Though he had been in the PRP till the party’s with the Congress, he remained more or less politically inactive. After the merger he did not take membership of the Congress because of his differences with ruling party leaders.

For Jagan, Radha fits the bill as he is a strong Kapu leader in the coastal districts. With byelections not far off, he is expected to woo Kapu voters in Guntur and W Godavari where the community’s votes are crucial for any party to win. Radhakrishna’s father, the late Vangaveeti Mohanaranga Rao held sway over the Kapu community not only in the coastal districts but also elsewhere in the state, and his family is still revered by people.

Radhakrishna is holding talks with some former� corporators, who had sailed with him when he was in the Congress, to take them into the YSR Congress.

from ibn live

Minister Saraiah targets YSR

                                                                                       

BC Welfare Minister Baswaraj Saraiah's created ripples in political circles in the State when he pointed a finger at the late Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy for adopting an ‘anti-Telangana' stand at a Prajapatham programme here on Thursday.

The Minister responding to protests by TRS students wing activists that the Telangana Congress leaders were doing nothing while scores of youth were committing suicides for the cause, said they did enough in the past and were still putting efforts towards securing separate statehood to the region.

“When we the Congress leaders tried to organise a meeting on separate Telangana, the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy threatened us over telephone. But, we did not fear,” he said.

Mr. Saraiah revealed that since he was associated actively with the separate Telangana movement, he was denied a Cabinet berth by Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy during first and second term. However, he said he never compromised on the issue despite differences with the party leadership.

Scores of TRS students wing leaders staged a protest at the meeting at Rangasaipet area in Warangal town. When the police let in a group of students, they questioned the Minister. They sought to know why the government was not withdrawing the cases booked against the students who took part in separate Telangana movement and what were the Telangana Congress leaders doing when the party leadership went back on its separate State promise?

Later, a group of Left party workers too tried to gherao the Minister seeking adequate drinking water, roads and complaining about the spiralling prices.

District collector Rahul Bojja said efforts were being made to solve the drinking water problems.

 from hindu