Amaravati, Nov 10 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila Reddy has appointed coordinators for Assembly constituencies to strengthen the party from the grassroots levels in the state.

She announced coordinators for 50 Assembly constituencies on Sunday. She said the move is aimed at strengthening the party from the grassroots and rebuilding everlasting relations with the people in the state.

She said the coordinators for the rest of the Assembly segments will be announced in the next phase.

The state has 175 Assembly constituencies.

Congratulating the new coordinators, she wished them to do their best in the services of the people of Andhra Pradesh.

About 35 coordinators have been named for Assembly constituencies in the Rayalaseema region. Only two coordinators have been appointed in north coastal Andhra while the remaining appointments were made for constituencies in south coastal Andhra.

Sharmila has named M. Dhruva Kumar Reddy as the coordinator for Pulivendula constituency in her home district Kadapa. The constituency is represented by her brother and political rival Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The former chief minister and YSR Congress Party president Jagan Mohan Reddy won the Pulivendula seat for a third consecutive term in the elections held in May 2024. Dhruva Kumar Reddy had contested as a Congress candidate and finished a distant third.

For the Kuppam constituency, represented by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Sharmila has appointed A. Govindharajulu as the coordinator. Govindharajulu had finished poor third in the recent elections.

Chandrababu Naidu has been winning the Kuppam seat since 1989.

Former minister and former APCC president Sake Sailajanath will be the coordinator for the Singanamala constituency. He had contested unsuccessfully from here in the recent polls.

Sharmila led the party in the simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha held in May. However, for a third consecutive time, the Congress party drew a blank in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha.

The Congress party was virtually wiped out in 2014 as the party failed to win a single Assembly or Lok Sabha seat due to public anger over the bifurcation of the united Andhra Pradesh. The party lost several senior leaders who joined either YSRCP or TDP.

The party failed to open its account in 2019 as well. There were hopes that Sharmila’s appointment as state party chief would change the party’s fortunes in 2024. However, it once again failed to open its account.