APCC to shift headquarters to Seemandhra

HYDERABAD: When state bifurcation was being done, several Seemandhra Congress heavyweights made all-out attempts to ensure that Hyderabad would be a Union Territory.

However, after their party's humiliating debacle in the recently-held general polls, the Congress leaders seem to be reconciling themselves to the fact that unless they are amidst the people of Seemandhra, they could not revive their party, which is in a moribund state, in the residuary AP.

The Andhra PCC leadership, which is now in a soul-searching mode to find out the reasons for the party's disastrous performance in the polls, is of the opinion that it should first shift its headquarters from Hyderabad to a place in Seemandhra so as to be with the people of the region.

'Unless we mingle with the people of Seemandhra, we can't gauge their line of thinking and find their pulse. Hence, we are planning to shift the party main office to Vijayawada or some other suitable place in the region at the earliest,' said a senior Congress leader.

Even APCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy backed this argument. He said they would shift the headquarters of the APCC to the new capital of Seemandhra as soon as it is announced by the Centre. '' We will use the existing office at Indira Bhavan here as the camp office,' hesaid.

Stating that he is planning to organise party's extended executive meeting at Vijayawada in June, Raghuveera said they had begun dissecting the party's dismal performance in the general polls.

CONGRESS INSISTS ON FARM LOAN WAIVER

Recovering from the shock received in the general polls, the Seemandhra Congress leaders have started attacking TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who would soon be the chief minister of residuary Andhra Pradesh.

A delegation of Seemandhra Congress leaders led by APCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy called on Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan here.

During the meeting, the APCC delegation pleaded with the Governor to ensure that Naidu would implement his poll promise of waiving the crop loans with immediate effect.

'As Naidu had promised that he would waive all crop loans in Seemandhra soon after coming to power, farmers in the region did not repay their agricultural loans. But, Naidu's statements on the waiver of crop loans after his party's victory in the polls is worrying the farmers.

Hence, we have requested the Governor to prevail upon the CM-designate and fulfil his promise immediately,' Raghuveera told reporters after his meeting with Narasimhan.