The Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders are holding a high-level meeting in Delhi with the party high command on Wednesday. APCC president Gidugu Rudra Raju, former president N Raghuveera Reddy, working president Sunkara Padmasree and others are attending the meeting.
AICC president Mallikharjuna Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal are attending from the high command. The leaders are scheduled to discuss the party’s position in the state ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The Congress had lost its vote bank to the YSR Congress after the state’s bifurcation. People have been angry with the Congress leadership for one side bifurcation. AP lost so much to Telangana in the bifurcation only because of the Congress leaders. People are not ready to excuse the Congress leaders for this mistake.
However, the Congress had been making its presence in the state despite the total washout of the vote bank. This time the party leaders are confident of winning at least a couple of Assembly seats. They are also hopeful of getting some vote bank back to the party.
The party leaders are also confident of getting some sitting MLAs from the ruling YSR Congress to contest on the Congress ticket this time. As the YSR Congress is dropping a good number of sitting MLAs for the 2024 general election, the Congress leaders are eyeing on them to come to the party and contest.
Besides this, the party leaders are also expecting Y S Sharmila to head the party in the state, at least for the elections. They want Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy’s daughter to give some life to the party in the state.
The party high command is also of the opinion that Sharmila’s leadership would give some breathing space for the party in the state. The high command wants Sharmila to organise two meetings in the state – one at Visakhapatnam and the other at Vijayawada. Congress senior leader Priyanka Gandhi is expected to attend the Visakhapatnam meeting while Rahul Gandhi is expected to attend the Vijayawada meeting.
The party wants to win the hearts of some people in the two cities besides the state and get some advantage in the form of votes. It is to be seen how far these efforts would help the Congress to get back to its lost position in the state!
