Eye on Andhra, Cong holds meet

The meeting was attended by A K Antony, who heads a panel to decide on alliances, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, AICC general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh, Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who met DMK chief M Karunanidhi recently.

Sources in the DMK said while the party is not keen on a tie-up, it is in talks with the Congress for its support to get its candidate elected in the Rajya Sabha elections.

While the Congress dismissed reports about Reddy’s possible next move as speculation, the party high command is reported to be concerned about the slow-moving debate in the Andhra Assembly on the Telangana Bill. Reddy opposed creation of Telangana on the floor of the House itself.

Another point of concern is the coming Rajya Sabha elections as there is talk of MLAs from Seemandhra region fielding candidates against the party’s official candidates. MLA J C Diwakar Reddy, a staunch opponent of the bifurcation, announced on Thursday that he would be a candidate.