It’s all Kiran; no Sonia, YSR

Vijayawada: The photographs of Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and the former chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy were conspicuously missing from the banners put up by the Congress leaders at the Pulichintala Project dedication programme held in Vijayawada on Saturday.

The venue, a sprawling Swaraj Maidan Grounds, was decorated with the banners all over, carrying photographs of Chief Minister, local Minister K P Saradhi, MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, legislators Malladi Vishnu and Vellampalli Srinivas and former minister Devineni Rajasekhar Nehru.

A good number of these banners also had the photographs of APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana. The absence of photographs of Sonia Gandhi and YSR left everyone surprised. Sonia is the president of the Congress and the chairman of the ruling UPA at the Center. Her photographs used to be in prominence at every party function.

The absence clearly defines a defiant mood on the party of Seemandhra Congress leaders, particularly Kiran Kumar Reddy, as they have been cut up with the high command over according statehood to Telangana. In the case of YSR, he was instrumental in turning the Pulichintala dream of the people into a reality and was the tallest Congress leader in the state during his tenure as the CM.

He even laid the foundation stone for the project in 2005 and made it the first project to be launched under the Jalayagnam scheme. He was ignored, but one could understand that raking up his memories may benefit the rival YSR Congress Party.