Bus yatra to unite Cong groups

HYDERABAD: The state Congress is taking out a Bus yatra aimed at consolidation of the party and uniting all warring groups to fight the TDP in the Assembly polls.
Congress in-charge for AP, Gulam Nabi Azad will join in most parts of the 20-day yatra, scheduled to start from November 3. PCC president D Srinivas, Congress Legislature Party leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief ministers N Janardhan Reddy and N Bhaskar Rao, senior leaders M Satyanarayana Rao, P Sivashankar, V Hanumantha Rao and T Subbarami Reddy will participate in the yatra.
Srinivas convened a meeting of senior party leaders at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday to chalk out the details of the Bus yatra. The meeting felt that the party must take an initiative in forging unity among all the leaders and that there was a need to organise a programme to bring the warring factions under one roof.
The PCC president later told reporters that the Bus yatra had nothing to do with the TDP''s move to go for snap polls. "We have announced the programme long ago," he pointed out.
Srinivas said it was intended to tour at least three to four Assembly segments in each of the 10 districts marked for the tour. The exact tour details are being worked out.
Though the Congress would be seeking reasons from the chief minister for advancing the elections, he, however, said his party was prepared to go to polls anytime.