‘All is not well’ in Andhra Pradesh Congress
Visakhapatnam: After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Congress Party slipped into a ‘sleep’ mode as it failed to make its presence felt either in local body or general elections.
Even as a few key leaders rendered service as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief, the Congress continued to be on shaky ground as the party did not witness any signs of change.
After Revanth Reddy became the Chief Minister of Telangana and YS Sharmila as the APCC chief, they did infuse a new josh among the party cadre in both the Telugu states. However, as far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, the josh did not last longer.
In support of YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YS Sharmila took out a 3,000-km-long ‘padayatra’. Although it did gain an edge in understanding the people’s hardship to an extent, she could not steer the party to the next level as expected.
However, before any signs of positive transformation started showing up, a divide seems to be inevitable in the party. A section of the party leaders alleged that Sharmila is keener on working towards fulfilling her personal motives rather than strengthening and uplifting the party.
The disgruntled group made Visakhapatnam a platform to air their grievances against Sharmila and seek the attention of the party high command. Led by former Union Minister Killi Kruparani, the group aired its concerns against the APCC chief. The platform witnessed party leaders representing all the districts across the state. “There is a need to strengthen the Congress in AP. If this has to become a reality, the current APCC chief has to be changed,” they appealed, giving a representation to the former Union Minister, calling for AICC’s intervention.
Despite having a long stint in the Congress, AICC member Sunkara Padmasree expressed concern that information related to the party programmes failed to reach senior leaders under Sharmila’s leadership. “Those who have fought for the party and landed in jail have been gravely neglected by the APCC chief,” she lamented.
Expressing solidarity with the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) protestors, Sharmila took part in several programmes carried out in Visakhapatnam, including observing a fast for a few hours at the relay hunger strike camp. Also, demanding the management to reinstate contract workers, who lost their jobs at the VSP, Sharmila is going to take part in an indefinite hunger strike from Wednesday.
Apparently, a divide seems to be inevitable in AP Congress as hardcore Congress leaders express concern over the party’s bleak future in the state and lay emphasis on AICC’s intervention into the matter before things turn from bad to worse.
