Debacle to be debated

Under attack on bypolls, Congress to plan ahead

AICC in-charge of AP affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad is expected to arrive in the state in the first week of April and review the party’s poor showing in the bypolls.

According to party sources, Mr Azad spoke to Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana on the phone from Delhi and asked them to convene a meeting of the eightmember state Congress Coordination Committee to discuss the results.

The meeting will also draw up a strategy for the byelections to 18 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seats that have to be held by the end of August.

Though it is not officially confirmed yet, Mr Azad, who held preliminary discussions with the party’s MPS on the situation in AP, favoured a brainstorming session with all the key party functionaries in the state to deliberate strategy.

As has been reported in these columns, the Congress is plagued with many problems due to lack of clarity and strategy on some issues. These include the Telangana statehood demand, the ‘ineffective’ attack on Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the lack of coordination between the government and the party, ineffective implementation of several gov- ernment schemes and the lack of a strategy to counter the opposition.

The meeting will also look into complaints regarding the gap between the party and the government in decision making and the calls for filling up various government posts.