Ramachandraiah quits Congress

Kadapa: In a major setback to the Congress in Kadapa district, senior leader and former minister C Ramachandraiah quit the party on Saturday. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said that he was not able to digest the fact that the Congress party was forging an electoral alliance with the TDP. He said that since beginning there was vast difference between the TDP and the Congress in policy matters. The two parties have been archrivals for over three-and-half decades.

But the unilateral decision taken by the Congress high command to have an electoral tie up with the TDP caused unrest among the party cadre, he said. This would badly affect the prospects of the party in 2019 elections, he opined. He said he was upset over lack of internal democracy within the Congress party. “I find no reason in continuing in the Congress as there is no internal democracy,” he said.

Taking a dig at Naidu for stating that he had joined hands with the Congress to protect democracy in the country, Ramachandraiah questioned Naidu as to why he had encouraged defection of 25 YSRCP MLAs into his party if he believed in democratic values. He expressed apprehension that the Congress may soon lose its identity in AP as it had forged an alliance with the TDP.