Hyderabad, May 13: As the major political parties await the outcome of crucial by-elections to Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies on Friday, the question of who should own up responsibility for a possible setback to the ruling party dominates the talk among the Congress leaders.
The Congress is already on the backfoot in the wake of the blame game among the leaders over the role of the election officials in allegedly backing the YSR Congress Party and the allegation that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had not acted on time in setting right party affairs in Kadapa.
If the remarks of APCC president D. Srinivas are any indication, it would be the collective responsibility of the Chief Minister, Ministers, and party leaders. Talking to reporters, Mr. Srinivas maintained that if the sentiment was strong, then there was little scope for the leaders or the party to own up responsibility. An interesting development on Friday will be the presence of several Ministers in Ongole to attend the wedding of the son of former Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy. It may well turn out to be a platform to discuss the results because Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will attend the wedding as Mr. Reddy is his follower. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu will be away in Krishna district to take part in the farmers’ agitation.
D.L. Ravindra Reddy (Congress), M.V. Mysoora Reddy (TDP), and Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy (YSR Congress Party) are among the 42 candidates in the fray for Kadapa while Y.S. Vivekananda R eddy (Congress), Y.S. Vijayamma (YSR Congress Party), and M. Ravindranath Reddy (TDP) are the prominent nominees out of 25 in Pulivendula.
Counting of votes would be taken up from 8 a.m. in JMJ School where 120 tables (for about 14-17 rounds of counting) are being set up for Kadapa and 22 tables (eight rounds of counting) in Pulivendula. Each round is expected to take about 25-30 minutes and the official announcement may be made only in the evening. The trends will, however, be known much earlier.
–Agencies