The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Digvijay hints at more new faces for local body polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Digvijay hints at more new faces for local body polls

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, SEPT. 8. The Congress general secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, has said that more new faces will be fielded from the frontal organisations of the party in the ensuing local body elections.

Addressing party workers here on Wednesday, he wanted the cadres to work unitedly for the party. Stating that only the Congress could defeat the Congress, he said that even in 1994 and 1999 elections, the Congress would have won but had lost because of lack of unity.

Mr. Digvijay Singh, who was on the last leg of his three-day tour of the north Andhra districts, speaking after inaugurating the newly constructed first floor at the City Congress Office, said that all differences should be resolved within four walls by showing a spirit of accommodation. Stating that panels would be formed at the State and the district-level for coordination between the Government and the party, he said differences among partymen should be resolved at district-level itself.

Condemns killings

While condemning the killings in Anantapur district, he said that they were only retaliatory attacks and dared the Telugu Desam Party leaders to name the Congress leaders behind the killings. The Visakhapatnam MP, N. Janardhana Reddy, charged the Bharatiya Janta Party and Mr. Chandrababu Naidu with trying to rake up controversies since they were out of power.

Rebutting the TDP charges against the Chief Minister with regard to the killings and demands for his resignation, Mr. Reddy recalled that when several top Congress leaders were killed in the past the TDP had kept quiet.

The Minister for Commercial Taxes, Konathala Ramakrishna, lauded the vast administrative experience of Mr. Digvijay Singh and said that he had vested local bodies with powers during his ten-year rule.

BJP campaign flayed

The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams Chairman, T. Subbarami Reddy, said that the BJP campaign was caused by desperation since the UPA Government was working well. The Visakha-I MLA, Dronamraju Satyanarayana, said that 700 Congressmen were killed during the TDP regime and wanted to know how many times Mr. Chandrababu Naidu had quit.

Later, addressing the District Mahila Congress, Mr. Digvijay Singh exhorted them to take up political issues and emerge as leaders in their own right.

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