Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday reportedly told the new Secretary of the party, in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, to work hard in coordination with other leaders, to ensure that the Congress retained power in the State and also secured as many Lok Sabha seats as possible in the next poll.
She conveyed this to the Congress leader and former Union Minister from Tamil Nadu, when he made a courtesy call on her, after getting appointed to the post in the latest reshuffle of the organisation. However she did not discuss about the vexatious Telangana issue during the meeting.
She was particular that the party office-bearers keep her and vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders in Delhi informed about the developments in AP which the party considered a challenging one in the ensuing polls.
Congress general secretary and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh has again been made in charge of AP Congress Committee.
Mr. Thirunavukkarasar is a veteran politician from TN and had held important posts in the AIADMK in the MGR and Jayalalithaa governments. He was in the Union Cabinet in the NDA regime.
The Congress in AP secured 33 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 Lok Sabha poll (excluding one seat won by AIMIM which was in alliance then) and 29 in 2004 election.
