Hyderabad, March 24: Stung by the drubbing received by the Congress in the Council elections from the local bodies, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has admitted that internal party problems were reflected in the results.
The split in Congress votes had benefited the Telugu Desam Party, he said, noting that such results were to be expected when differences within the party come to the fore. However, he tried to play down the performance of the group headed by Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy which won three seats, including the one in the Chief Minister’s native district, Chittoor.
Stating that money played a key role in influencing voters, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy said party would take a serious view of the results and try to undo the damage caused by some leaders who switched loyalties. It would study the lapses by seeking reports from the grassroots level. He said the setback in the Council polls was not the end of the world for the ruling party.
Kadapa result
He regretted that the three sitting MLCs were defeated. Nevertheless, he said the Congress party had put up a credible performance against Mr. Jagan’s candidate in Kadapa where the margin of victory was slender. “We have proved that Congress is not weak in Kadapa,” he said adding that the margin of victory in few others seats was narrow.
To a question, he said the party would look into the issue of initiating action against former Ministers J.C. Diwakar Reddy and P. Ramachandra Reddy for alleged internal sabotage.
In respect of others, he said they would be denied any opportunity to contest the local bodies’ polls in future.
On who should own moral responsibility, he said it was not one individual but the party which should take up collective responsibility for the setback.
At another press conference, APCC president D. Srinivas said the Congress accepted the verdict. “Though this is a small election, we humbly accept the defeat,” he said.
PCC chief’s reaction
“There was scope for manipulation and the voters, who are set to retire shortly could have been influenced by horse trading,” he remarked.
Mr. Srinivas said a thorough post-mortem of the polls would be done shortly.
-Agencies