New Delhi:
In order to set the house in order in the south Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi held meetings with party leaders from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Thursday in Delhi.
This was Mr Gandhi's first meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy after the state government got into controversies with Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy, who is named as an accused by the CBI in the Jagan Mohan Reddy assets case.
Mrs Sabitha is the third minister after Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao and Dharmana Prasada Rao to face charges in the case.
After the meeting, PCC chief Botcha Satyaranayana told reporters that the issue of local bodies election was discussed in the meeting.
Mr Satyararayana is also a minister in the state government and according to sources he has earlier been told that he will have to forgo one of the posts. A decision on the next PCC chief of the state is likely soon.
It was also the first formal interaction of the Congress Vice President with the PCC and CLP leader of Tamil Nadu after UPA ally DMK withdrew support from the government leading to a buzz of early polls in the country with the UPA's numbers depleting.
In the meetings, Mr Gandhi emphasised the need to strengthen the party at the grass roots, an issue that had also come up during his meetings with leaders from Delhi and Bihar yesterday.