LS polls: Kharge, Rahul hold discussions with Andhra Congress leaders

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The top Congress leadership held a meeting with leaders of the party's Andhra Pradesh unit on Wednesday to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the southern state.

The meeting that was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders of the party comes amid a series of such deliberations being held by the Congress high-command with its state leaders ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Taking to X, Kharge said it was an important strategy meeting where the leaders shared their thoughts on strengthening the party for the general election.

"Everyone believes that ground situation has drastically changed after government formation in Karnataka and Telangana. Every leader and worker is going to work hard and re-establish the bond which the people of Andhra Pradesh once shared with the Congress party," Kharge said on the microblogging platform.

Talking to reporters, Congress's Andhra Pradesh in-charge Manickam Tagore said the meeting went on for more than two hours and the party's plans for the Lok Sabha election as well as the state Assembly polls were discussed.

"We invite all voices who believe in the Congress's ideology to join the party to rebuild Andhra Pradesh, a dream which got lost because of the (Narendra) Modi government's discrimination. Unkept promises of the Centre in the last 10 years have destroyed Andhra Pradesh's development. The Congress is ready to fight the battle of 2024," Tagore said.

Asked if the party will go for an alliance in the southern state for the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, he said a decision in this regard will be taken by the top leadership.

Tagore also said seat sharing was not discussed at the meeting.

Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats, of which 22 are with the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), while the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) holds the remaining three. The YSRCP is also in power in the state and has 147 of the 175 MLAs in the Assembly. PTI