Hyderabad: The Congress is looking for candidates in the divided state of Andhra Pradesh. After the bifurcation of the state and the resignation of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy from the party in protest against it, the Congress party looks like a deserted house.
Most of the sitting Congress MLAs are refusing to contest fearing a total decimation in the Assembly polls. Some of them have already defected to the YSR Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). A few of them are planning to contest on their own.
The Congress, which was ruling the state till last month is now left with no candidates even to contest on the party symbol. The Seemandhra (AP) had been a stronghold of the Congress and it delivered the maximum number of MPs and MLAs for the Congress in 2009.
With YS Jaganmohan Reddy forming his own party and the division of the state, the Congress is facing extinction in Andhra Pradesh. Most of the sitting MPs of the Congress are also refusing to contest.
According to some reports, just three sitting MPs have agreed to contest. Remaining MPs are planning to stay away from electoral politics for some time or planning to retire.
A local Congress leader claims that the desperate party is now offering 'get one, take one' scheme. If a candidate agrees to contest now, the Congress is promising him or her party ticket even in 2019 elections. However, this scheme has failed to attract the candidates.
The Congress high command has appointed former agriculture minister Raghuveera Reddy as the new chief of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee. The state has 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats. It is voting on May 7 in a single phase.
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