Fearing rout,Cong may skip T bypolls - T Cong Leaders To Meet Sonia

Telangana cause may come in handy for the Congress, after all. In a bid to wriggle out of embarrassment of not winning any of 12 assembly seats in Telangana for which bypolls are due to be held by August, state leaders are advocating not fielding any candidate. A group of Telangana Congress leaders led by AICC secretary in-charge of Jharkhand K Keshava Rao is set to impress upon Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to adopt such a line. Senior leaders of Telangana Congress met once last Sunday to discuss the issue and resolved to gather support of other leaders. A second meeting is being planned next week. Keeping in mind Telangana sentiment, it would be wise for the Congress not to contest the elections. Another reason is that in case it contests and wins a seat against TRS, the Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders can claim this as a rejection of the Telangana sentiment in the region, said a T Congress leader. But real reason is that it is sure that it cannot win a single seat. The polls were necessitated following the resignation of 10 TRS MLAs and one each of the TDP and BJP at the height of the T agitation in February this year. Congress insiders admit that all the 12 MLAs who resigned have a very good chance of retaining their seats with a bigger margin. Not only that, none of T Congress leaders submitted their resignations. Thus if the party fields candidates, this will become the single biggest campaign point of TRS and will harm the Congress even more, said a leader.

The bypolls have virtually brought PCC president D Srinivas at the political crossroads. With his bid to enter the Council having been rejected due to denial of a ticket, and his chances of getting a Rajya Sabha nomination virtually ruled out, DS is increasingly being cornered into contesting from the Nizamabad Urban assembly seat from where he had lost to BJPs Y Lakshminarayana in the last elections. Therefore, DS will be the happiest person in case the Congress decides to skip the bypolls.In fact, he has been persuading several Telangana Congress leaders to campaign for the party not contesting the polls, said a T Congress leader. But precisely for this reason,some anti-PCC chief leaders are bent on putting the pressure on the party contesting the elections. While most are likely to press for the party skipping the bypolls, there are many others who are set to urge the high command to field candidates. But knowing that the Congress cannot win a single seat, Soniaji is likely to consider the plea of the T leaders, said a leader. The advocates of bypassingthe-polls campaign have got a shot in the arm due to the stance of the Telugu Desam. We have definite information that TDP will also not field any candidate (except one seat) in case the Congress does not, said a Congress leader. They have already met several MLAs and those aspiring to contest the polls to rally them against the party fielding candidates in the bypolls. We have already conveyed our sentiment to the party leadership in Delhi. Now we are planning to meet Sonia and other leaders soon,preferably in May, another leader said.
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T-JAC CALLS FOR BAN ON FILM IN T REGION - Komaram Puli film faces T trouble

Komaram Puli, the Telugu film starring Pavan Kalyan, younger brother of PRP president K Chiranjeevi which is scheduled to be released soon, appears to be heading for trouble with T Political JAC on Thursday giving a call to people of the region not to watch it. Talking to media after steering committee meeting, JAC chairman M Kodandaram said that PRP was against the formation of Telangana and Pavan Kalyan was also its youth leader till 2009 general elections. He said JAC will oppose the activities of leaders who are opposed to Telangana including their films and other products. The students JAC, he said, had also given a call to obstruct the screening of the film. According to Kodandaram, another JAC, known as cinema JAC, was also created to study the problems faced by artists and film producers belonging to the Telangana region. He alleged that Telangana artists were being discriminated in Telugu films by denying encouragement. The cinema JAC will be organising a meeting to discuss issue on May 16 in city and veteran film artists and producers will attend and explain how non-Telangana producers were dominating the film industry. Appealing to opposition TDP and ruling Congress not to field candidates in the Assembly by elections from where TRS MLAs had resigned protesting against the constitution of Srikrishna committee on Telangana, Kodandaram said if anybody including PCC president D Srinivas contested election,it would be considered to be ethically wrong act. Stating that social and economic division had taken place among Telangana and Andhra people, he underscored the need for political division between the two regions. It is a historical necessity at this juncture. If it does not happen, we will see dire consequences in future, he said. As part of intensifying T agitation, JAC will observe May month as Udyama Sanghatita Masam (strengthening T-movement ). On May 5, 6 and 7, JAC will organise padayatras in old city and conduct district JAC meetings from May 7 to 9.

Meanwhile, TDP leader Arvind Goud demanded that Kodandaram should resign as chairman of the JAC since he participated in the foundation day celebrations of the party. Referring to the remarks of KCR calling TDP president a Sikandhi, Goud said that KCR is a man who would touch anyones feet when he needs their help and abuse them later. TDP condemns such attitude, he said.

Pavan offers prayers at Tirumala

With TRS workers threatening to obstruct his new film, Pavan Kalyan has turned to Lord Venkateswara seeking divine intervention for the smooth release of Komaram Puli. The actor, who reached Tirumala after walking all along from the Alipiri gate, said on Thursday this was his sixth visit to Tirumala shrine since the beginning of the shooting of his latest film. Meanwhile, musical maestro and Oscar winner AR Rahman visited Pedda Dargah in Kadapa on Thursday and took part in Urs fete. Rahman came to the dargah at 3 am and offered a chadar. He later offered namaz and special prayers. Rahman visits the dargah during important rituals and makes it a point to offer prayers at the dargah on his birthday.
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(source-toi)