HYDERABAD: After the initial hiccups over selection of candidates for the byelections, the Congress on Sunday decided to depute its ‘best’ cabinet ministers for election campaign in Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly constituencies.
Amidst criticism that the Congress had no clear-cut strategy to take on Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalakshmi in the byelections, chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy after a three-hour discussion with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief D Srinivas and his cabinet colleagues on Sunday decided to depute at least 15 ministers to head the election campaign for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.
With the party high command concurring with the view of CM and PCC chief that collective responsibility could ensure the victory of party candidates, the ministers have been entrusted with the task of co-ordinating with the rank and file of the party in seven assembly constituencies that form the Kadapa parliamentary constituency.
Almost all the ministers have been identified based on their ability to woo voters from their respective communities, mostly BCs.
The party has even requisitioned the services of minority leader Mohd Ali Shabbir and MLC Mohd Jani, whom the Jagan group reportedly tried hard to defeat in the recent MLC elections.
Party sources said the current approach of collective responsibility was agreed upon by all those present at the meeting. Every mandal-level leader will be consulted and his views accommodated while campaigning for the party.(TNN)
