Seemandhra group given a slap on wrist

A Seemandhra contingent comprising 80 odd ministers, MLAs and MPs were made to eat humble pie in New Delhi on Tuesday when they tried to prevail upon AP Congress affairs-in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad to keep the state united. An annoyed Azad reportedly told them curtly: “We know what we should do. First infuse life into the party in your state which is in shambles. Leave the decision on Telangana issue to us.”

It was when Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao was giving a presentation on the Seemandhra cause that Azad gave sudden vent to his annoyance. “The party is in dire-straits. The priority is winning the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats. Is any one of you working in that direction. Come to that, is any one of you confident of winning your own seat at least?” he asked.

Azad reportedly told them that each minister would be given charge of one district and their performance would be under watch. “The party might assign districts in Telangana to Andhra ministers and vice versa. You will remain in positions only if you work and show results,” he said.

Azad also held out a veiled warning to the group against crossing the party’s Lakshman Rekha. “If you do anything disregarding the party, we know what we should do,” he said.

The day witnessed hectic activity in the national capital with both Telangana and Seemandhra leaders vying to influence the party high commandos. The Seemandhra team began the day by calling on Prime Minister and later met Azad, AICC emissary Vayalar Ravi and wrapped up with a representation to President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Telangana team, led by ministers D Sridahr Babu, B Saraiah and DK Aruna, met home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and senior leaders Digvijay Singh and Vayalar Ravi.