Hyderabad:
Union Minister and Congress High Command's emissary to Andhra Pradesh, Vayalar Ravi, said that the June 12 by-elections to the 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency were not a referendum on the State Government.
"You cannot treat these (by-elections) as a referendum. The by-polls were necessitated after some legislators defied the party. We are explaining this to the people," Mr Ravi told reporters.
Mr Ravi returned to Hyderabad on Monday to oversee the party's campaign for by-polls. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy hosted lunch for the Union Minister and discussed the party position in different constituencies.
Mr Ravi said that everyone knew why Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy quit Congress and floated his own YSR Congress party. "Along with him, some Congress cadre too left the party," he added.
The by-elections would see a triangular contest between the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress, he said.
On the Telangana issue Mr Ravi said that the issue was under the consideration of the Union Government.
Mr Ravi will camp in Hyderabad to discuss the by-poll strategy with senior leaders and also visit some constituencies with Pradesh Congress Committee President Botsa Satyanarayana for campaigning, party sources said.