PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana on Friday claimed that though the Congress was united during the campaigning for the bypolls, several ministers not only failed to ensure victory for the party, they also failed to muster a decent share of votes.
Mr Satyanarayana’s words, as also top sources, indicated that there would be a major overhaul of the Cabinet in the days to come with several ministers in danger of losing their jobs after the party’s dismal performance.
Even Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was being criticised for making ministers not familiar with the constituencies as their election in-charges.
For example, ministers from Telangana Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jana Reddy were made in-charges of the Macherla constituency. When Mr Jana Reddy did not show much interest, he was replaced by irrigation minister P. Sudarshan Reddy who was completely out of touch with the constituency.
Agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana was made in-charge of Prattiapadu. The party lost so badly in both the seats and forfeited the deposits.
Finance minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy, who belongs to Nellore district, was entrusted with the campaign in Kovur in March. The Congress came a poor third in Kovur. He was also put in charge of the Nellore Lok Sabha segment, which includes the Udayagiri Assembly constituency. The Congress lost both the seats.
The Congress also lost the Kandukuru Assembly constituency by a massive number of votes. Municipal administration minister M. Maheedhar Reddy was the in-charge here.
The Congress candidate lost his deposit in the Anantapur constituency which was overseen by minister P. Sailajanath, while in Rayadurgam, overseen by revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, the party came third.