AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi is focusing on resuscitating the party in Semmandhra in the run-up to the 2014 polls.
Apart from considering some concessions on the status of Hyderabad, along with an attractive package to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, the AICC boss seems to have decided to bank on the ‘Kapu (backward caste) plank’.
Agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, a strong Kapu leader from the region, met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi recently. He rushed to the national capital after he got a call from the national capital while in the midst of a visit to his native Guntur district.
This development assumes significance as the AICC supremo has almost stopped meeting her party leaders from Seemandhra, barring a few such as Union ministers from the region, following the Samaikyandhra movement.
The meeting took place at a time when hectic political developments are happening in Delhi and in Hyderabad on the T-front.
State Congress leaders interpret the meeting as an effort by the AICC leadership to revive the party in Seemandhra by constituting a team of leaders who are loyal to the party. Kanna has never spoken against the Congress Working Committee’s decision on Telangana and remained a staunch loyalist.