Congressmen oppose DS bid

The Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr D. Srinivas, who wanted to enter the AP legislature through the Legislative Council is facing stiff opposition from local Congressmen who want the seats for themselves.

They want Mr Srinivas to contest from his native Nizamabad Urban Assembly seat which is going for bypolls in the next few months. According to Gandhi Bhavan sources there are at least 30 Congress leaders from the city aspiring for a Legislative Council seat. The poll notification for these seats are expected to be announced by the Election Commission anytime after April 10.

There is going to be elections for three Legislative Council seats from Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts and the Congress, MIM and the Telugu Desam are slated to win one each. The elections are likely to be unanimous.

Some Congressmen have already told the party high command that if a PCC chief himself opts out of the race from his native Assembly bypoll to take the Council route it would send a wrong message to other candidates who will be in the fray for bypolls to 12 Assembly seats.

The Congress MLAs from the city are also opposing Mr Srinivas entry as they are afraid that their chances of becoming a minister will get jeopardised in the next Cabinet reshuffle.

Two ministers in the present Cabinet are also afraid that the PCC chief’s entry will be a threat to their continuance in the Rosaiah ministry. A senior Congress MLA, Dr P. Shanker Rao, is already eyeing a Cabinet berth in the reshuffle claiming seniority and being a Dalit. Another strong contender for berth is former minister, Mr Marri Shasidhar Reddy, who is considered to be close to the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah.