Raghuveera tries to woo back disgruntled Congress leaders

APCC chief talks to 13 DCC chiefs, ex-Ministers and seniors and tries to tell them that all was not lost for the party

In less than a day after taking over as the AP Congress Committee president N. Raghuveera Reddy on Sunday made a determined bid to win back the disgruntled party leaders, who are on verge of crossing over to other parties.

On Sunday, Mr. Reddy spent over four hours talking on phone to all the 13 District and City Congress presidents, former Ministers and seniors and trying to impress on them the fact that all was not lost for the party in the wake of bifurcation of the State.

One-on-one talks

The APCC chief is understood to have spoken to some of the leaders who had been contemplating switching sides in the coming days. A close aide of the PCC president said he had spoken to former Minister Maheedhar Reddy, who is upset by the party’s decision to divide the State. “The PCC chief maintains a very close rapport with Mr. Maheedhar Reddy. The latter said that he would personally come and meet him to discuss the developments,” the source said.

Similarly, the PCC president tried to persuade former Minister K. Parthasarathy against taking a hasty decision to join some other party. Sources said Mr. Raghuveera Reddy made a last-ditch effort to convince former Minister Shatrucharla Vijayarama Raju against joining the TDP, but the latter turned down his plea. He joined the TDP on Sunday along with his nephew and MLA Thatiraj Janardhan. Yet another MLA from Prakasam was asked to reconsider his decision to part ways with the Congress.

Personal equations

Sources said Mr. Reddy was using his personal equations with several Congress leaders and making a bid to tell him that in this difficult situation, it was their bounden duty to stand by the party.

During his telephonic talk with Congress leaders, the PCC chief asked the DCC and City Congress chiefs to closely examine the list of candidates for the municipal elections. He also asked the district level functionaries to prepare seriously for the local bodies polls.

With regard to the list of prospective candidates for the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, the senior leaders along with the DCC chiefs were asked to forward a list for each constituency in the next two days. It is understood that the PCC chief intends to hold talks with the Pradesh Election Committee members in a couple of days to discuss the list.