The Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders clarified Chiranjeevi's absence from the APCC Coordination Committee meeting stating that the actor-politican abstained due to personal reasons, and would continue with the Congress.
The meeting was held at Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada on Saturday. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, AICC secretary R C Kuntia, AICC SC Cell chairman Koppula Raju, Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao, C Ramachandraiah, former union ministers Killi Kruparani and Pallam Raju, and others participated in the meeting.
Speaking to the media, Pallam Raju said that the committee discussed strengthening the party, public issues and the future course of action.
He said that the Congress was against the defections, and had already addressed a letter to the President of India in this regard.
Former MP J D Seelam said that defectors needed to tender their resignations and contest elections afresh. It was atrocious for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who had found fault with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on the latter's handling of defectors, to now follow in the footsteps of KCR, Seelam said.
He, too, demanded that all defectors should go in for elections afresh tendering resignations to their positions immediately.