HYDERABAD: As per the instructions of its central leadership, the state Congress is chalking out plans to achieve Mission 15 — securing fifteen out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.
This is believed to be one of the main topics of discussion during a meeting convened by AICC organisational general secretary KC Venugopal here on Sunday.
Though the party is working to achieve the target set by the high command, it did not finalise candidates for three Lok Sabha segments — Khammam, Karimnagar, and Hyderabad.
According to sources, the AICC general secretary hinted that they are expecting another leader from a rival party to join the Congress fold before finalising the tickets for the remaining segments.
Venugopal, however, expressed dismay over some leaders opposing joinings from the other parties. He reprimanded the state leadership to not be complacent but to work hard to win elections, pointing out that some contesting candidates are not working up to the mark. Do not obstruct the process of leaders from other parties joining the Congress was Venugopal’s message to his colleagues.
He also suggested that TPCC leadership should induct those leaders who left the party before the recent Assembly elections.
“If we are not inducting them, they would join the BJP,” KC Venugopal told the TPCC leadership, while stating that BJP is fully focused on south India.
The meeting was attended by TPCC president and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, party’s poll candidates and in-charges, including ministers.
Survey reports
During the meeting, Venugopal has tabled the survey reports prepared by party’s election strategist Sunil Kanugolu and discussed the strategies at length. He has discussed with the party’s poll candidates and in-charges on the modalities for electioneering in each constituency. A detailed discussion on party’s strengths and weaknesses in each Lok Sabha segment was also held.
Based on the reports, Venugopal has directed the party leadership to keep special focus on Chevella, Malkajgiri and Secunderabad Lok Sabha segments. He also suggested that meetings be conducted at booth, village, mandal, district, and constituency level.
The meeting also delved into how the BJP, the ruling party at the Centre, is gaining momentum in the state and devising strategies to tackle it. Stating that the BRS lending support to BJP is helping the saffron party to strengthen its base in Telangana, he asked the state leadership to focus on welcoming the leaders of both the BRS and BJP into the Congress.
“As there is a possibility of BJP growing in the state, Venugopal asked us to induct leaders from the BRS and BJP even if there is opposition from the local leadership by sorting out the differences through a dialogue in the best interest of the party,” Environment and Forests Minister Konda Surekha said while speaking to the media after the meeting.