DS report to Centre on Telangana defeat

The Congress leadership on Monday decided to take the blame for the party's failure to rise to the occasion in the just-concluded July 27 byelections to 12 Assembly constituencies.

The State Congress, which met at Gandhi Bhavan here to review the party’s electoral debacle in the Telangana districts, resolved to put the facts before the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief D Srinivas, who lost to the BJP candidate at Nizamabad Urban for the second consecutive time, chaired the meeting. 

The party candidates in all the other 11 segments, the district presidents of the party and the poll coordinators, who campaigned for the party turned up for  the meeting. The issues that were discussed  at the  meeting included the failure to motivate the cadres, inability to generate confidence among the voters on Telangana issue, failure to conduct intensive and broad-based campaign and  lack of leadership.

PCC chief D Srinivas said he would analyze the discussions and the views of the candidates who lost in the elections before drafting a report which would be submitted to the party High  Command.