Sagar By-Election: Congress Holds Zoom Prep Meeting

As the date for the upcoming Nagarjuna Sagar by-election inches closer, the political parties in Telangana have busied themselves in preparations for the same.

Many senior leaders of the Congress today held a virtual preparatory meeting on Zoom to talk about the party's ongoing campaign for the seat.

AICC state in-charge Manickam Tagore, TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy TPCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar, AICC Secretary SA Sampath Kumar and the party's candidate for the election, K Jana Reddy, were among those who participated in the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Manickam Tagore asked the Congress leaders not to view the upcoming election as just another by-election, but to devote themselves fully to securing a victory in the same. He encouraged the rank and file of the party to work hard to mobilise support for Jana Reddy.

Tagore also said that the leaders should work hard to ensure the defeat of the Congress' rivals, the TRS and the BJP, alleging that the two parties were "secret friends" who maintained a facade of enmity to "mislead" the people of the state.

"We should work to expose the secret alliance between the TRS and the BJP, who remain secret friends, while putting on an act of enmity in public," he reiterated.

Stating that the Congress only had ten more days in which it could campaign for the seat, the AICC in-charge encouraged his colleagues to utilise the time to convince the voters in the Nagarjuna Sagar constituency to vote for Jana Reddy.

"Our party has a strong candidate. Jana Reddy's victory is inevitable as he is a well-respected leader. Therefore, we should all work hard to help him win the seat with a thumping majority," he added.

TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy also addressed the party, said that Jana Reddy's victory over the Congress' rivals was an eventuality that was bound to materialise.

However, he asked the workers of the party to work hard to ensure the defeat of the TRS, which, he claimed, was the Congress' "only true competition" in the upcoming election.

"The BJP has fielded a weak candidate as part of its secret alliance with the ruling party. Therefore, we must work to ensure that Jana Reddy secures a comfortable win over the TRS' Nomula Bhagat. Please make sure to speak to voters from every community to mobilise support for our candidate," Reddy urged.

Referring to the representations given by the BJP MP Soyam Babu Rao for the removal of Lambadas from the ST category, the TPCC head demanded an explanation from the leaders of both the pink party and the BJP leaders on the issue.

He said that the preceding Congress governments of undivided Andhra Pradesh had included the Lambadas in the ST category and that the decision had helped lakhs of the students of the tribal community to improve their standards of living through secure livelihoods.

Echoing Tagore's words, Bhatti Vikramarka also appealed to all the workers of the party to take part in the election campaign with vigour and commitment. He said that he himself would tour all the villages of the constituency to garner support for the party.