By IANS,
Hyderabad : It is a bad day for the Congress, but things will change tomorrow, said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy reacting to the results in the by-elections to Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly seats.
He told reporters Friday evening that it was a by-poll held in a peculiar situation in which there was strong sympathy for late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Pointing out that it was the first election after his death, the chief minister said people expressed their strong sentiments through their votes.
“He was able to convert the sympathy into votes,” Kiran Kumar said without naming Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, whose YSR Congress party won the by-polls.
Jaganmohan Reddy, Jagan, as he is popularly called, retained Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with a thumping majority of over 500,000 votes while his mother Y.S. Vijayalaxmi, also retained the Pulivendula assembly seat by 85,000 votes.
State Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy lost his deposit in Kadapa while Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, younger brother of the late YSR, finished second in Pulivendula.
The chief minister advised the Congress cadre not to lose heart over the results as the elections were held only to one Lok Sabha and one assembly seat in a peculiar situation.
The chief minister evaded a direct reply when asked if the results proved Jagan is the successor of YSR’s political legacy.
He termed as “immature” the statement by Jagan that the by-elections were a fight between YSR and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Kiran Kumar said there was no threat to his government following the results.
“There is no threat to the government. It is strong and we will go to the 2014 elections with a strong party,” he said when asked to comment on Jagan’s prediction that the government would collapse in six months.
The chief minister said the party would learn lessons from the defeat and would take all steps to strengthen it in Kadapa district.