The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Congress issues whip in Council elections

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Congress issues whip in Council elections

Special Correspondent

Fears non-cooperation from Jagan loyalists, Telangana MLAs

Congress Legislature Party meeting will focus on forming different groups of MLAs
Each group to be headed by Minister to make sure voting is in favour of allotted candidate

HYDERABAD: The Congress Legislature Party has issued a whip to all its members to attend the proceedings of the Assembly and vote for the party's nominees in the Council elections under the MLA quota scheduled on March 17. The whip comes amid apprehensions of non-cooperation by party MLAs from Telangana on the one hand and loyalists of former MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, numbering close to 30, on the other. Government Chief Whip M. Bhatti Vikramarka asked the MLAs to be available to the leadership on March 16 when the CLP is scheduled to meet and as also the next day when polling takes place.

The development follows the fruition of efforts by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and APCC president D. Srinivas to convince the Telangana MLAs to end their boycott and begin attending the Assembly. The Chief Minister is understood to have asked the Ministers and senior leaders to avoid giving scope to the Opposition and a section of leaders within the party to “blackmail” MLAs on the ground of Telangana or any other sensitive issue.

The CLP meeting will focus on forming different groups of MLAs and assigning them to one party candidate. Each group would be headed by a Minister entrusted the responsibility of ensuring that members voted in favour of the allotted candidate.

The election had become prestigious to the Congress since it is saddled with the responsibility of getting elected seven candidates, including one each of the Praja Rajyam and MIM, whereas their combined strength is sufficient to win only six seats. Similarly, the TDP has fielded three candidates and has accommodated the CPI, although the total strength of their group can ensure the smooth sailing of only three.

PR candidate C. Ramachandraiah and other party leaders called on the Chief Minister in his chambers in the Assembly to convey their apprehension about possible sabotage by Congress MLAs but Mr. Kiran assured them that the ruling party had its own strategy for the polls.

As there are only 10 seats as against 12 candidates, the election is all about which of the two candidates will be eliminated in the final rounds of counting. The TRS candidate may be one of them, unless there is large-scale cross- voting, because he can muster the support of only 13 MLAs, including two of the BJP.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh