One of the most disturbing features witnessed at Sardarnagar was the signature campaigns mounted against one another by the two rival factions in the Andhra Pradesh Congress. It began with the Unity Front, led by Shri Brahmanand Reddy and Shri P.V.G. Raju, both Ministers in the Andhra Cabinet, collecting signatures on a memorandum to be submitted to the Congress High Command demanding the removal of Chief Minister Sanjiviah from office and reconstitution of the Ministry according to the dictates of the Unity Front. In reply to this campaign the supporters of Shri Sanjiviah started a similar movement of their own pleading for the continuance of the Sanjiviah Ministry. For its part, the Congress High Command tackled the problems arising out of these rival campaigns simply by ordering the Unity Front immediately to suspend its movement against the Chief Minister and to dissolve itself. The signature campaign has, of course, fizzled out, but there is neither any sign of the Unity Front going into voluntary liquidation nor any indication of it burying the hatchet and toeing the line with Shri Sanjiviah. In fact, it is now quite on the cards that the Unity Front will make renewed efforts to achieve its ends by tabling a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister when the Congress Legislature Party meets at the end of this month. The dissensions between the two rival groups in Andhra Congress are too far gone to be resolved by the Congress High Command’s summary firman against the Unity Front. Group politics began hardening immediately after the Chief Minister dropped Shri A.C. Subba Reddy from the Cabinet sometime last year. Since then various developments have taken place and each development has gone to widen the gulf between the rival factions. The dissensions came into the sharp focus with the election of Shri Narothamma Reddy as the President of the APCC. The Brahmanand Reddy group opposed that election on grounds of irregularity. And when the Congress Presdient declared that election invalid Shri Alluri Satyanarayana Raju rose in revolt against that decision. For reasons of safety Shri Sanjiviah lined up behind Shri Alluri. After a long-drawn slanging match the two rival groups appeared to agree to the election of Shri Pallam Raju as a compromise. Now the bone of contention is, who should fill the vacancy that will be caused by Shri Pallam Raju’s resignation from the Cabinet to take over the Presidentship of the PCC. The Unity Front wants one of its own men to be appointed in place of Shri Pallam Raju while Shri Sanjiviah would like that appointment to be made by him, presumably under the advice of Shri Alluri Satyanarayana Raju. There is a similar rivalry regarding the question filling the unfilled vacancy caused by the removal of Shri A.C. Subba Reddy. Another factor adds a new dimension to this rivalry. While Shri Sanjiviah and Shri Alluri Satyanarayana Raju would like to nominate the deposed President of the PCC, Shri Narothamma Reddy to the election committee, the Unity Front is against it. The Unity Front is of the opinion that the seat in the election committee which its rival group wants to make a gift of to Shri Narothamma Reddy must be contested openly.
9 January, 1961.
