After interacting with more than 150 party leaders, functionaries and sympathisers from different parts of the State in the last 24 hours, I am convinced that the Congress party is battle-ready, says Manickam Tagore, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Andhra Pradesh.
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Mr. Tagore visited the State for two days to take stock of the situation and set the process of preparedness in motion for the forthcoming elections.
Speaking to The Hindu on January 11 (Thursday), Mr. Tagore said that “the Congress is in a combat mode.”
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“The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has done nothing to improve the life of the common man. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues are focussed only on land, sand, mine and wine,” he said sarcastically.
“Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has pushed the State into bankruptcy, and natural resources are being given away to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s friends such as Adanis and Jindals,” he alleged.
Mr. Tagore said a strong anti-incumbency wave prevailed in the State, and urged people to comprehend the situation.
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“All the three regional parties — the YSRCP, the TDP and the JSP — are aligned with the BJP, whose supremo, Mr. Narendra Modi, has betrayed the people of Andhra Pradesh. He has never given importance to development of the State,” he alleged.
Referring to the TDP, he said its supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, after losing people’s support, had aligned with Pawan Kalyan’s JSP, which did not have any standing among the people.
Y.S. Sharmila’s role
Speaking about Y.S. Sharmila’s role in the Andhra Pradesh unit, Mr. Tagore said, “Ms. Sharmila is the daughter of late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a very strong leader and staunch supporter of the Congress. It is good that she has come back to the party that her father was associated with.”
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Stating that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge would decide Ms. Sharmila’s role in the party, Mr. Tagore said that regardless of her post, she would play an active role in the Andhra Pradesh Congress party.
Pointing out that former MLAs from Prakasam and Krishna districts David Raju and D.Y. Das, besides film producer and builder Kalyan Dhulipalla had joined the party, the AICC leader said after Sankranthi, a few potential people were expected to join the party.
He said the party would build a secular narrative, which would be effectively communicated to the people by leaders such as Ms. Sharmila, hinting at her active participation in campaigning.