Even as the Congress is hoping to revive its performance in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh where polling for 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 assembly seats is scheduled on May 13, many leaders are alleging that state unit chief YS Sharmila Reddy is not consulting the candidates with them which has left them in disarray, party sources said.
A party source said that Sharmila, daughter of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy, was inducted into the Congress and was also made the state unit chief.
“However, many of the senior leaders does not have her (Sharmila’s) mobile number and are unable to connect with her to discuss the programmes and candidates,” the source said.
The source also claimed that the Andhra unit chief is taking all decision on selecting the candidates along with her husband, which has left many party leaders worried as tickets are given to outsiders.
The source said that the party leaders have also tried to convey the issues with state in-charge Manickam Tagore, party General Secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.
“And as both the leaders are busy in their own elections, it may hurt the party’s prospective in the state and Lok Sabha elections,” the source explained.
The party source further said that they have communicated the senior leaders to save the organisation in the southern state as the party workers are not getting opportunity either to contest or participate in the election process.
On April 5, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) bloc and CPI in Andhra Pradesh have struck a seat sharing deal for the ensuing simultaneous polls, entailing the CPI to contest one Lok Sabha and eight Assembly seats in the state.
As per the arrangement, the CPI will contest the Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, while the Assembly segments include Vijayawada West, Visakhapatnam West, Anantapur, Pattikonda, Tirupati, Rajampet, Eluru and Kamalapuram.
Congress has also left Guntur Parliament constituency to the CPI.
On April 2, Sharmila had announced the names of candidates for five Lok Sabha and 114 Assembly seats from the Congress.
With the announcement of the seat sharing deal between the Congress and CPI, clarity on the I.N.D.I.A alliance candidates has emerged for six Lok Sabha and 122 Assembly seats in the southern state.
Congress is yet to announce the candidates for 19 Lok Sabha seats and 53 Assembly seats in the state.
Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled on May 13 and the counting of votes will take place on June 4.