Hyderabad, April 09: State Congress committee president D Srinivas talked tough today, saying that Congress high command was firm on taking disciplinary action, even disqualifying them, if MLAs supported YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party in Kadapa and Pulivendula by-elections on May 8.
He, however, did not specify the time to be taken for acting against the defiant MLAs. “We will go to any extent and are even ready to disqualify them. In this regard, I am talking to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy seriously”, he informed.
Speaking to mediapersons at Gandhi Bhavan here, the PCC chief, in reply to a query, warned that the party would immediately initiate disciplinary proceedings against its party MLAs if they supported candidates of another party (referring to Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalakshmi).
“It is unethical for MLAs to work against the party’s official candidate. We will not keep quiet if party MLAs work against official candidates. Disciplinary proceedings will start immediately,” he said.
“Wait and see,” he said when asked whether the party would also take action against former ministers and MLAs JC Diwakar Reddy and P Ramachandra Reddy against whom allegations were made by some Congress leaders that they had worked against the party’s official candidates in the recent MLC elections.
At the same time he exuded confidence that the Congress would win both the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats. “The by-elections are not a referendum on the schemes being implemented by the Congress government. The party’s schemes, included in the election manifesto, will be the theme of our campaign. The names of the party’s candidates will be announced in a day or two,” Srinivas added.
–Agencies