One of Rahul Gandhi’s fifty-four observers and former MLA Jitendra Deshprabhu met Congress party leaders and workers here on Friday to get feedback and collect data on the demographic profile of the Vijayawada Lok Sabha Constituency.
Mr Deshprabhu distributed questionnaires to leaders and party workers to collect data on the strengths and weaknesses of the sitting MP Lagadapati Rajagopal at the Andhra Ratna Bhavan. Addressing the partymen, the observer said the feedback forms would be utilised for the preparation of a progress card on the performance of the MP. The questionnaires asked the partymen to rate the MP’s image in public, party and media as good, satisfactory and bad. The party men were also asked to name any “better candidates” then the sitting MP. Most of the party workers were seening giving Mr Rajagopal a good rating in all the three categories.
In November Mr. Gandhi selected 54 observers to get feedback from the 544 Lok Sabha Constituencies in the country. The observers comprising of MLAs, former MLAs, MPs and some other professionals have been dispatched to the different states assigned to them. The observers were not given assignments in their home states to ensure non-biased feedback.
Mr Deshprabhu addressing the partymen said that welfare schemes and developmental programmes initiated by former Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy belong to the Congress party and other groups or political parties could not stalk a claim for them. He said the SC/ST sub-plan was also an initiative of the Congress party and it would soon come up with such sub-plans for the backward classes and minorities. FDI in the retail sector should be welcomed by all sections in society.
Former Minister Devineni Rajasekhar, MLAs Malladi Vishnu, Yelamanchili Ravi, MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah, District Congress president Naraharisetti Narasimha Rao, city president Adapa Nagendra, working president Meesala Rajeswara Rao, former MLAs Mudraboyina Venkateswara Rao, PCC secretaries Kolanukonda Sivaji, B Babu Rao and Akula Srinivasa Kumar, Parliamentary constituency youth congress president Devineni Avinash and state NSUI general secretary Rajiv Ratan and others participated.
Besides answering the questionnaire Mr Sivaji submitted a three page memorandum to the observer asking that a BC candidate be considered for the Vijayawada Parliament seat.
