For Cong, bypoll in Andhra Pradesh may have come too early

Announcement of the schedule for by-elections to one Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats has rather come as a bolt from the blue for the already beleaguered Congress party in Andhra Pradesh as it appears to be unprepared for them.

The party was hoping against hope that the by-elections would be held only in August even though the Election Commission had been making it clear that it would complete the process well ahead of the Presidential election. Also, Congress has been claiming that it would conduct elections to Urban Local Bodies in June ahead of the by-elections as it was unable to draw statutory grants from the Centre due to lack of elected Councils in ULBs since October 2010.

With the announcement of the by-poll schedule yesterday, the ruling Congress' plans have totally gone awry. In the last ten days, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government had been releasing "special funds" to constituencies facing by-elections but it could issue necessary orders only in respect of 13 Assembly segments.

Now, development works sanctioned in those 13 constituencies too cannot be taken up as the model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect. The Chief Minister, who planned to conduct election campaign in all the constituencies by using the government's mass contact programme Prajapatham, could accomplish the task only in four segments.

Worse is the case of the party which could not finalise its candidates in many constituencies even as the rival parties Telugu Desam and YSR Congress have completed the process and are already racing ahead in the campaign.