Date:02/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/10/02/stories/2005100203700600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Indirect polls help Congress, says Naidu

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam Party has come to the conclusion that "indirect elections, misuse of official machinery, terror tactics and allurements by the Congress" are the main reasons for its poor showing in the municipal polls.

The TDP Polit Bureau held a marathon meeting here on Friday under the chairmanship of party president N. Chandrababu Naidu to discuss its dismal performance.

The six-hour meeting focussed mainly the debacle and the extensive flood damage in Andhra Pradesh.

Leaders felt that the TDP lost to the Congress because the latter used its MLAs and MPs in the indirect elections to bag the civic bodies. It also took comfort in the fact that the decline in the TDP's vote share had come down from 16 per cent in the 2004 Assembly elections to 10 per cent now.