Congress promotes its Dalit women to tip scales against Mayawati

NEW DELHI: A pattern that has emerged through the meticulous process of government making is difficult to escape: Congress has sought to showcase its dalit women to tip the scales in its battle against Mayawati for the dalit vote.

First, Congress bosses promoted Selja from an insignificant department in the previous term to the high profile tourism portfolio as cabinet minister in addition to housing and urban poverty alleviation. Her hands are more than full.

Krishna Tirath, one of the seven Congress MPs from Delhi, was not even remotely in the race when she was picked to be minister of state for women and child development.

Panabaka Lakshmi, who returned from Andhra Pradesh as an MP, continues to be a member in the council of ministers, this time as minister of state for textiles.

Then came the surprise choice of Meira Kumar for the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker. She is set to make history as the country's first woman Speaker.

Now, what is in common among the four Congress MPs? They are all dalit women -- a new political category which seems to be carrying a high premium.

Determined to reconstruct its dalit vote-bank and regain the political heartland of Uttar Pradesh, Congress is eying BSP boss Mayawati as its first target. Its win of 21 Lok Sabha seats from UP has clearly whetted its appetite for power in the most populous state. On the party's calendar, the year 2012 is marked with red. That's when Congress will take on Mayawati in the UP assembly elections.

The windfall that has happened to the party's dalit women in Parliament is not a mere accident but part of Rahul Gandhi's preparations for the Armageddon in UP three years down the line. The party has sought to project the dalit women in its ranks as a subtle comparison with Mayawati's persona.

After the Lok Sabha election results were out, party general secretary Digvijay Singh had a detailed discussion with Rahul for the party's next step in UP. They see 2012 as the date for a decisive battle. But much before that, Congress will have to reckon with Mayawati's might in 11 assembly byelections -- the date for which will be announced by Election Commission soon.

When contacted, Singh confirmed that he indeed had discussed the UP roadmap with Rahul. "We have decided to keep all the shells charged and ready for 2012," he told TOI. Asked if promotion of dalit women leaders was a step in that direction, Singh quipped, "Well, that's an interesting observation."

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Ravi made Cong in-charge of AP, Keshava Rao to oversee Assam

New Delhi: Congress today effected a minor reshuffle in the AICC by making Vayalar Ravi the party in-charge of Andhra Pradesh and K Keshava Rao the in-charge of Assam.

M Veerappa Moily, who was in charge of both these states, is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka.

The charge of Moily as the chief of the AICC media department has gone to General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

Party sources said it was a "temporary" allocation of assignments.

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YSR kicks off Congress campaign in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, March 26 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Wednesday launched the Congress' election campaign in the state.

After garlanding statues of national leaders in the city and offering prayers at a temple, a 'dargah' and a church, he reached Chevella in the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, where he kicked off the campaign by addressing a public meeting.

YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, has an emotional attachment with Chevella and during last five years he launched every tour and new programme from this place.

It was from here that he had launched the successful 'padyatra' (walk) in 2003 as the then opposition leader. During the 64-day long walkathon, he covered 1,600 km to know the people's problems. The next year saw the Congress party coming to power with a massive majority.

'This place is close to my heart. I have come here to seek your blessings for another yatra,' he told people at the rally.

Under the first phase of 'Jaitra yatra', as the election campaign has been christened, the chief minister will cover five districts till March 31.

At the launch of the campaign, he was accompanied by Minister for Mines and Geology P. Sabita Indra Reddy, whom he considers as his younger sister.

Indra Reddy tied a 'rakhi' (traditional band tied by sister on her brother's wrist) on his hand. Describing YSR as 'people's star', she said no film star was a match for him.

YSR is leading his party's campaign for the next month's assembly and Lok Sabha elections though the campaigning by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is dominated by film stars and family members of party founder N.T. Rama Rao.

Film star Chiranjeevi is leading the campaign of his Praja Rajyam Party.

While launching the campaign, the chief minister sought another term for the Congress on the basis of its performance during last five years.

He listed out the schemes implemented by his government including free electricity to farmers, Rs.2 a kg rice, building of houses for poor, waiver of farmers' loans and 'Arogyasri' or community health insurance scheme.

YSR alleged that TDP was misleading people with promises. 'Why Chandrababu Naidu did not implement any scheme for people's welfare during his nine-year rule,' he asked and claimed that the Congress had fulfilled all the promises it made in 2004.

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Congress retains sitting MPs from AP

New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Congress denied assembly tickets to four ministers and the deputy speaker of the state assembly in Andhra Pradesh while retaining almost all the sitting MPs in the list of candidates announced Saturday for next month's polls.

The party has not fielded 55 sitting legislators and included 90 new faces in the list of 290 candidates for the assembly elections. However, it retained almost all the sitting MPs, including five central ministers.

Congress' central leadership announced in New Delhi the names of 290 candidates for the assembly and all 42 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The candidates for four assembly constituencies will be announced later. There are a couple of surprises in the list of Lok Sabha candidates.

A. Narendra, the expelled MP from Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), is the candidate from Medak. Narendra's inclusion was surprising as the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has not even joined the Congress and is known for his close association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Manda Jagannadham, who was expelled from the opposition Telegu Desam Party (TDP) for voting in favour of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in a crucial parliament trust vote last year, has been rewarded with a ticket from Nagarkurnool. G. Sukhender Reddy, who quit as TDP vice president two days ago and joined the Congress, has been fielded from Nalgonda.

Union ministers S. Jaipal Reddy (Chevella), Renuka Chowdary (Khammam), Daggubati Purandeswari (Visakhapatnam), Pannabaka Lakshmi (Bapatla) and Pallam Raju (Kakinada) have been fielded again though the constituencies of a couple of them have been changed as the seats they were elected from in 2004 were either scrapped or reserved for Scheduled Castes during the seat delimitation exercise.

Purandareswari, daughter of TDP founder and former chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, will contest from Visakhapatnam instead of Bapatla, which was reserved for Scheduled Castes, while Jaipal Reddy will be the candidate from newly created Chevella constituency in place of Miryalguda, which was scrapped.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will contest from Kadapa in place of his uncle Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. G. Vivekanand will be the candidate from Pedapalli as his father and senior Congress leader G. Venkatswamy has decided not to seek re-election.

All India Congress Committee secretary Madhu Yaskhi Goud will again contest from Nizamabad. The Congress has denied tickets to 55 sitting state legislators, including four state ministers and deputy speaker of the assembly G. Kutulahamma.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy will seek re-election from Pulivendula constituency in Kadapa district. NTR's elder son-in-law and Purandareswari's husband D. Venkateshwara Rao has been retained while actress Jayasudha has been included in the list. She will contest from the Secunderabad assembly constituency. The Congress had bagged 29 Lok Sabha and 185 assembly seats in the 2004 elections.

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