Congress will win majority of seats in bypoll: AP CM

Hyderabad, May 28 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today expressed the hope that the Congress would win a majority of the seats in tomorrow's byelections as people had witnessed development in the State during the last four years.

Addressing a press conference here, he claimed that the Congress would bag nine Assembly seats out of 17 to be contested and two Lok Sabha seats out of four in the byelections.

Stating that the bypolls had helped the Government to spread awareness about the developmental and welfare schemes initiated by it during the last four years, he claimed that there was no anti-incumbency factor anywhere in the State as the people were happy with the Government's performance.

Listing out the Government's achievements, Dr Reddy claimed that the State had developed on all fronts and this was the first time that so much development had taken place after independence in the country as the Government was committed to the welfare of all sections of the people.

He said the Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had no right to seek votes in the bypolls as it was not committed to the welfare of people during its previous nine-year rule in the State.

Dr Reddy alleged that the TDP would be marginalised as the people were vexed with the party and its president N Chandrababu Naidu, who was resorting to ''opportunistic politics''. The TDP would be exposed in the bypolls in view of the ''anti-people policies'' adopted during its erstwhile regime, he added.

Referring to Mr Naidu telephonically congratulating BJP leader L K Advani on the party's victory in Karnataka, the Chief Minister alleged that Mr Naidu was again trying to get close to the BJP as he did in 1999 elections. The TDP had no ideals, he claimed.

He claimed that the BJP's victory in Karnataka was due to sympathy factor as people of that State thought that the JD(S) had betrayed the BJP in sharing power.

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