The 10-member Ministers Committee that was entrusted the job of suggesting measures for improving the functioning of both the Congress party and the state government, will meet party MPs on July 17 and MLAs on July 18 to ascertain their views.
The committee was supposed to finalise its interim report today and submit it to the Chief Minister and the Pradesh Congress Committee president tomorrow, but has instead decided to hear the views of the party's legislators before it does so.
“We will meet party MPs on July 17 and MLAs on July 18, as they will all be available for the Presidential polls, and take their views on the functioning of both the party and the government. The Ministers Committee will discuss their views also and the interim report will be submitted to the Chief Minister and PCC president on July 21,” said social welfare minister Pitani Satyanarayana on Sunday after the committee held its fourth meeting at his residence.
One of the major decisions taken at the meeting today was that both the party and the government should shed the image of the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy that looms over all the schemes and programmes, and project the Congress as the provider of future policies and programmes.
Sources said that the ministers felt that unless the YSR stamp is erased in a phased manner, it would be difficult for the party to overcome his influence, particularly as his legacy is being claimed by a rival party.
The committee is expected to recommend that local body elections be conducted immediately in the state in order to establish a clear-cut base for the party before the 2014 general election.
As implementation of several government-sponsored programmes are crippled due to the absence of non-officials in the villages, it would be better for the government to conduct elections at the earliest, the committee felt.