Vijayawada: Congress will form govt in AP says Manickam Tagore
Congress MP and AICC AP in-charge Manickam Tagore and senior Congress leader K V P Ramachandra Rao along with other party leaders addressing a press conference on start of receiving applications from ticket aspirants at A
Vijayawada : “We want all Congressmen to come back to the party fold to regain the glory and the power,” said Manickam Tagore, the state in-charge of the grand old party. He said the Congress has been struggling in the state for the last 10 years and is now on the comeback trail.
Talking to Hans India, Tagore said the Congress would now be vibrant and would move forward in a vigorous manner. New life is already visible in the party after YS Sharmila took over as the new APCC president, he said.
He said the Congress has a strong base in the state and it is certain that the party will bounce back to power. “We have a popular leader as APCC chief and the party can articulate its stand in the state,” he added.
Tagore hoped that the Congress will win 90 seats in the Assembly elections and will form the government in the state. He said the voters of Andhra Pradesh have given a chance to the TDP in 2014 and to the YSRCP in 2019.
He alleged that the Union government had failed to fulfil the promises it had made to the state on the implementation of Special Category Status and construction of the Polavaram project.
He lamented that the Polavaram project has not been completed, funds are not sanctioned for the backward districts of Andhra Pradesh, Kadapa steel plant was not built and other assurances like setting up Central institutions were not fulfilled in the state. The Congress will go to the polls promising Special Category Status to the state if voted to power both in the state and at the Centre.
When asked about other likely promises in the party manifesto, the Congress in-charge of the state said the manifesto committee would take a decision on this. But sources indicate that it could be a 9G manifesto. It was 5G in Karnataka and 6G in Telangana.
Tagore said they had given a call to all those who had left the party after the state bifurcation to come back to the party fold. He hoped that the people of Andhra Pradesh forgive the party for past events like the bifurcation of the state and once again will give a chance to form the government.
Referring to the election manifesto and party agenda, Tagore said a committee will be constituted to chalk out the poll strategy very soon. He said APCC president Y S Sharmila has taken up the statewide tour and was meeting district party leaders across the state to rejuvenate the party. AICC chief Mallikarjuna Kharge has given direction to the APCC leaders to chalk out a poll strategy to win the elections, he added.