Members' exit doesn't affect AP Cong: CM

Asserting that workers are the real strength of Congress, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday said the party would remain strong even if some leaders switched over to other parties.

Against the backdrop of some Congress MLAs joining YSR Congress (YSRCP) of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister pointed out that Congress had a thumping win in elections even though as many as 150 MLAs quit the party in 1977.
He was addressing a gathering of newly-elected presidents of agriculture cooperative societies from Addanki in Prakasam district, where the sitting Congress MLA moved over to YSRCP.
If leaders feel that the party is surviving because of me, that is wrong. Workers are the strength of Congress. If old water goes, fresh water comes, a Congress release quoted Kiran Kumar Reddy as saying.
None understood why the Addanki MLA had quit the Congress, he said. State Municipal Administration Minister M Mahidhar Reddy, who hails from Prakasam district, said Congress activists stood by the party though leaders had ditched it.
Congress' success in cooperative polls proved that point, he said. Congress Lok Sabha member from Vijayawada L Rajagopal said the party is strong in AP under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and due to the effective implementation of welfare schemes by the Kiran Kumar Reddy government.
PTI