Hyderabad:
Gearing up for the by-polls to 18 assembly and one Lok Sabha seat next month, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and other Congress leaders held a meeting to review the party's preparedness in Nellore district.
Several Congress leaders from Nellore attended the meeting held at the Chief Minister's camp office.
"We decided to show the true colours of Jagan Mohan Reddy to the people. We would like to explain the welfare programmes being implemented by the state government effectively to the electorate," senior Congress MLA Anam Vivekananda Reddy said.
Nellore is the sole Lok Sabha constituency where the by-poll will be held along with 18 assembly seats on June 12. Former Union Minister T Subbarami Reddy is tipped to be the Congress candidate for the Nellore seat. The by-poll comes after Congress MP Rajamohan Reddy quit in support of Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Meanwhile, S Samma Rao, whose name has cropped up as the candidate for Parkal assembly seat in Warangal district, joined Congress in the presence of state Congress President Botsa Satyanarayana.
Mr Rao's candidature was opposed by the supporters of Congress Chief Whip Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy, who is the President of Warangal District Congress on the grounds that he was an active Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader. Mr Venkata Ramana Reddy's wife was initially expected to be the nominee from Parkal.
By-polls to 16 of the 18 assembly seats come after the disqualification of sitting Congress MLAs who switched loyalty to Mr Jagan while another sitting member quit in support of the Kadapa MP.
Mr Chiranjeevi quit as MLA following his election to Rajya Sabha which caused by-poll.