Will Congress face anti-incumbency in AP?

All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh warned on Monday that the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh 'may encounter anti-incumbency factor in the 2009 Assembly elections'.

Addressing workers on the occasion of the Congress completing three years in power, Digvijay Singh, who looks after AP affairs, said, "We may encounter the anti-incumbency factor in the 2009 elections. The anti-incumbency will be against the chief minister, ministers, Members of Parliament and MLAs. The only way this can be countered and won over is if we behave ourselves."

The AICC general secretary said, "The people of Andhra Pradesh have given a majority to the Congress in the Assembly and in the urban and rural local bodies. But dissidence and infighting (in the party) creates an atmosphere of discontentment and people feel disenchantment that we are not working for them."

"If we want to come back to power in 2009 in the state and if we want Sonia Gandhi to win again in 2009 Parliamentary elections, we have to work harder and also remain disciplined. We have to work as a team," he observed.

Claiming that 'in the last three years, there has been no dissidence in Congress party in Andhra Pradesh', he gave 'full credit' for this to all the state Congress leaders.

At the same time, he warned that 'discipline cannot be compromised. We cannot have indiscipline in a political party. Otherwise, the confidence and aspirations of the people who gave us power in Andhra Pradesh will be lost'.