Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief D. Srinivas will lead the party's campaign during the byelections to 10 Assembly constituencies in the Telangana region.
Lacking a star campaigner for the bypolls, Mr. Srinivas's decision to launch an extensive bus yatra covering all the segments soon after conclusion of the last day for filing nominations is seen as an attempt to create a niche for himself in the region.
Sources said the party chief is likely to cover the 10 constituencies in two or three phases. He may cover Warangal and Karimnagar districts at one stretch, then tour Adilabad where three constituencies go to polls. Next, he may cover Nizamabad Urban, Yellareddy and Siddipet segments. He is already campaigning in Nizamabad Urban from where his candidature is said to be a foregone conclusion.
Mr. Srinivas's strategy is to bring all Congress leaders on a common platform by forcing them to join him in his bus yatra. In his home constituency, he will campaign in two open top jeeps which he has asked his followers to arrange.
As the chances of Chief Minister K. Rosaiah touring the five districts appear quite slim, the PCC chief will have to shoulder the responsibility of leading the campaign.
Meanwhile, aspirants for the party ticket are digging the past of their rivals and making every effort to scuttle their chances. With a heavy rush for the Congress ticket, several aspirants are busy trying to run down their competitors.
On Wednesday, a group of Adilabad district Congress leaders met Congress MP K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao to oppose any move to field MLC Premsagar Rao from Sirpur. They include former MP A. Indrakaran Reddy, former MLA Koneru Konappa, Peddapalli MP G. Vivekanand and former Minister G. Vinod. A detailed complaint listing out the alleged court cases against the MLC is in circulation.
BC leader
In Huzurabad constituency, three aspirants – K. Sudarshan Reddy, P. Ravinder Reddy and T. Sammi Reddy – met Dr. Rao to oppose any attempt to give the ticket to V. Krishna Mohan Rao, a Backward Classes leader, who lost in the 2009 election.
