There are conflicting opinions among the Congress leaders over their party’s performance in the just-held first phase of elections to village panchayats.
If PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana, endowments minister C Ramachandraiah and health minister Kondru Murali Mohan claim their party fared well, former minister JC Diwakar Reddy differs and says the ruling party had been relegated to the third position.
Addressing mediapersons in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, PCC chief Botcha claimed that his party secured the first position in the first round of panchayat polls.
Exuding confidence that his party would continue its winning streak in the remaining two phases, Botcha said it was an indication that Congress will retain power after the 2014 polls.
However, the PCC chief acknowledged that the party had been weakened in four to five districts, including chief minister Kiran Reddy’s native Chittoor district.
Endowments minister C Ramachandraiah felt that his party had performed well in panchayat polls.
While interacting with scribes in Kadapa district on Wednesday, like Botcha, he too hoped that Congress would retain power after the 2014 polls.
JC Blames Ministers: Interestingly, party senior leader JC Diwakar Reddy did not agree with the opinion that his party had put up a good show.
Taking chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his ministerial colleagues to task, the Congress veteran blamed them for the “so-so” performance.
Addressing mediapersons in Tadipatri on Wednesday, Diwakar Reddy said as several ministers had not visited rural areas frequently and confined themselves to the secretariat in Hyderabad, people in villages had given vent to their anger by relegating Congress to the third position in the first phase of panchayat polls.
Another senior leader of the party, Kandula Shivananda Reddy, said the panchayat poll results could not be considered as any yardstick for gauging the actual strength of various parties at the grassroots level as local issues affect the voting pattern during these polls.