Tough task ahead for Oommen Chandy, appointed Congress' Andhra in-charge

The veteran Congress leader has a tough task ahead as the Congress failed to win even a single Assembly seat in residual Andhra after the bifurcation.
Tough task ahead for Oommen Chandy, appointed Congress' Andhra in-charge
Tough task ahead for Oommen Chandy, appointed Congress' Andhra in-charge
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Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was on Sunday appointed Congress General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh, replacing Digvijaya Singh.

"I was appointed due to my vast experience and I am confident of bringing back Congress to Andhra Pradesh," Chandy said.

Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh was appointed as the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Congress campaign committee.

Oommen Chandy served twice as Kerala’s Chief Minister, once between 2004 and 2006, and once again from 2011 to 2016, and was succeeded by present CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

Chandy is scheduled to meet Congress President Rahul Gandhi next week.

The veteran Congress leader has a tough task ahead as the Congress failed to win even a single Assembly seat in residual Andhra Pradesh, after the bifurcation of Telangana in 2014.

With the next elections coming up in 2019 and the Congress still facing dissent from the general public in the state, Chandy will have to play an active role if the party wants to turn its fortunes around.

However, with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu sharing a stage and shaking hands with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru, the two parties could come to an understanding during the polls.

With this appointment, it is also clear that Chandy's name won't be considered for Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president post.

After the poll debacle in 2016, Chandy, has been out of any key posts, and he has also taken a step back as far as his political career goes. He has also maintained strategic silence on many internal political issues of the Congress.

Though Chandy's image had received a severe beating after revelations in the infamous solar scan,  he still remains the major crowd puller for the Congress in Kerala.

This development comes just a day after BJP leader Kanna Lakshminarayana took charge as the chief of the party's Andhra unit.

Lashing out at Naidu, Lakshminarayana claimed that the Centre had fulfilled most of the promises made to the state during bifurcation, and it was the Chief Minister’s ‘inefficiency’ which had delayed the development of Andhra Pradesh.   

Speaking to reporters, BJP national secretary V Ram Madhav accused Naidu of going back on the ideology of former Andhra CM and TDP founder NT Rama Rao, who wanted to unite all non-Congress parties to forge an alliance.

"Naidu is trying to sail with a party known for corruption and family rule. Congress is his home and he is practising the principles of the party, be it corruption, family rule, caste politics or non-accountability. Like our slogan Congress Mukth Bharat, NTR too established the TDP with a similar slogan. He wanted a non-Congress platform to usher in a new political culture. Naidu, however, is going against this very spirit," the BJP leader was quoted as saying.

With IANS inputs

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