He has to convince at least 70 sitting MLAs who won’t be renominated for the coming elections not to rebel against the party and contest as Independents.

Early morning on Saturday, the CM started the fragile task of personally talking to these MLAs one by one, and convince them that their chances of winning are low and the anti-incumbency factor against them is high.

When the CM initially wanted to drop sitting MLAs who are over 60, it drew sharp reactions and criticism from them and there was a risk that they would rebel and end up contesting as Independents. Later, the party decided to include other criteria in the selection process which is also being adopted for selection of Lok Sabha candidates.

“An internal survey conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) indicated very clearly that the chances of winning the next elections of at least 70 sitting MLAs are slim. Some have not taken care of their constituencies, others are perceived to have become old and there is a strong anti-incumbency factor against many of them. There is a need to nominate fresh and younger candidates,'' says party spokesperson Venkateshwara Paladugu.

The party is learnt to have drawn its lessons from the defeat of Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan. “One major reason is Raje failed to take the dropped MLAs into confidence. They rebelled and contested as Independents and cut into votes. We don't want that to happen,'' a party leader said.

“The Chief Minister is personally speaking to the sitting MLAs who may be dropped to convince them that instead taking umbarage they should ensure the party's victory,'' said the leader.

The APCC had started the exercise of candidate selection last week and had asked presidents of district and city committees to submit names of probables and aspirants for each constituency by February 15.

“Besides selecting these 70-odd fresh candidates, the party also has the challenging task of finding candidates for 46 constituencies of Telengana which were given to TRS to contest because we had a tie-up with them for the 2004 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, Congress had not contested on 20 other seats across the state where CPI-CPM were contesting. We don't have alliances for this election so we have find new candidates for these 66 seats,'' says Paladugu.

APCC president D Srinivas says that the party is not dropping sitting MLAs in a haste. “Even though these surveys are authentic, we had them counter-checked at least twice. Only after careful consideration and their chances of winning comfortably, we will sort out the final list,'' Srinivas says.

The final list may also include a few ministers, a leader said.

After consultations with Jaipal Reddy and AICC general secretary Veerappa Moily, a list of candidates would be sent to the All Indian Congress Committee for approval in the last week of February.