Pyla Sominaidu, who has been the Congress city president for the past six years, has sought permission from party leaders to step down from the post.
His decision to step down has come as a surprise to the Congressmen in the city as he was saying that he deserved to be elevated for his services. He has been lobbying for the post of Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority chairman.
Beginning with Congress stalwart Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao Pantulu, several important persons held the city Congress president post.
Marked change
The list of Congress leaders who held the city Congress posts includes leaders like Marupilla Chitti, G.S. Raju, Pundu Saheb, Dhamalapati Rama Rao, Jandhyala Sankar, V. Pothana, Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao, Narindi Kanaka Rao, Jaleel Khan, and Kadiyala Butchibabu.
There was a marked change in the way the city Congress office was run from the time of Jaleel Khan, a well-established scrap iron dealer and railway contractor. Mr. Khan spent money lavishly to run the office.
Mr. Butchibabu too took it up as a matter of prestige and spent money from his own pocket to run the office.
This being the trend when Mr. Sominaidu took over as the city president, he also had to spend from his pocket to run the show.
Mr. Sominaidu reportedly told Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal that he would like to step down as he has been running the office for six years and that he could not take the financial burden anymore.
