Cong MP blames Vijayamma's "tears" for Andhra bypoll debacle

Guntur (AP), Jun 25: Congress MP from Guntur Rayapati Sambasiva Rao has attributed party's stunning debacle and YSR Congress's landslide victory in the state by-elections to the "tears" of Vijaya Lakshmi, the wife of former

Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

In a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, Rao said that Vijayamma had shed "copious tears" at the election meetings blaming the Congress Party for her husband's death in Sept 2009 in a helicopter crash and arrest of her son, Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case.

"This evoked instant sympathy from the audience, especially women, which played havoc with the election fortunes of the Congress Party," the five-time Congress MP said.

Out of 18 Assembly seats where bypolls were held earlier this month, the YSR Congress won 15, the Congress managed only 2 seats while the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) grabbed one. The TDP drew a blank.

The MP observed that Kammas, a powerful and enterprising community in AP, are disillusioned with TDP, especially its supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and that the Congress should win them back to the party-fold by giving them a dignified place in the organisation.

PTI