Congress Party to woo back voters

The ten-member ministers’ committee constituted to review the performance of the Congress in recent bypolls was told to go into all aspects of strengthening both the party and the government to face 2014 general election, and submit an interim report within 15 days.

Briefing the media about the two-hour long meeting at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday, minister for roads and buildings Dharmana Prasad Rao, the convener of the ministers’ committee, that they will go into reasons why several lakh beneficiaries of various government schemes did not favour the party in the bypolls. He said it was a matter of serious concern.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana attended the first meeting of the committee and advised the members to look into some key issues.

An interim report on the poll fiasco and suggestion on improving the image of the party and the government is likely to be submitted to both the Chief Minister and the PCC chief in next 15 days. “We will interact with all those sections and leaders at various levels on how to make both the party and the government prepared to face 2014 general elections,” Mr Prasad Rao said.
He said they would seek the opinion from the party leaders on how to improve the image of the government, especially in context of the changed political circumstances after 2009 elections. Sources said Chief Minister has suggested to the committee to explore the possibility of deleting the schemes which were difficult to implement and come out with new schemes to win over the sections who have distanced themselves from party.

He even suggested the committee to submit periodic reports on specific subjects so that government also can start implementing them simultaneously. Replying to a question, the R&B minister said the committee was not expected to touch the Telangana statehood issue, as the matter has been under central government’s consideration. “Our aim is how to prepare the party to face the challenges from the three regional parties like the Telugu Desam, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the YSR Congress,” Mr Prasad Rao said.