Outlining the way ahead, Reddy said his party will focus on strengthening its cadre in the state. A day-long meeting will be held with zila parishad presidents and candidates between June 16-17 at Vijayawada to ascertain the reasons for the defeat in the recent elections.
That apart, he said a conference will be held in July in Andhra Pradesh which Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have agreed to attend, to boost the morale of more than 17,000-odd mandal-level and state Congress leaders.
“We have invited both of them to come to this conference to encourage the Congress leaders at mandal level. Both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have agreed to attend this conference,” Reddy added.
Sharing some of the reasons for the defeat of his party in the state, Reddy said “one of the main reasons for the defeat of Congress was that the opposition has convinced the people that Congress was responsible for dividing the state. “We did not reach out to citizen while we gave free hand to the opposition... We failed to agressively drive home our view point at local camps,” he said.
Reddy also said Congress failed to communicate 10 years of UPA government's achievements to the people. Besides, the party was not able to contest local elections, leading to fiasco and its failure.
He also said there was an all-round buzz, including from some Congress leaders, that the party will lose and this affected traditional Congress voters as a result of which some of them voted for Jagan Mohan Reddy's party and some others for TDP.
Reddy, however, said he is confident of winning future elections as the party has substantial vote bank. “They (voters) will come back if elections are held today. We are neither angry nor scared. We have confidence,” he said. “Congress is not the party born for elections alone. Except Communist, the rest of the parties are born during the election time for elections alone. Our immediate duty is to ensure good life to citizens,” he said.
