The APCC presidency was not exactly vacant, unlike West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh etc, as Mallikarjun had not tendered his resignation after the Lok Sabha polls citing the `fair' performance of the Congress in the State as reason for him to stay on. However, the dice rolled swiftly and Mallikarjun was summoned to Delhi by Sonia.

In a meeting today between them, Mallikarjun offered his resignation to Sonia paving the way for Reddy's elevation. Reddy is mainly known for his clout in desperately backward Rayalaseema region of AP and has been former Youth Congress chief in the State, a minister and a four-time MP.

And like the new Orissa PCC chief, Hemananda Biswal who was appointed yesterday, Reddy's first taskis to oversee a smooth tackling of the four Assembly bye-elections in AP in June.

The Congress surprised itself in AP in the recent Lok Sabha elections by barely increasing its tally by one seat, up from 21 to 22, despite indications that it could have done better. And that trend could well recur if Reddy fails in his tough task. The AP Congress unit is normally riven by sundry factions who target fellow leaders rather than rival parties. Reddy himself was guilty of this in the past when he spent a great deal of time fighting current CWC member and former State chief minister Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy. Though the two leaders have made attempts to bury the hatchet, peace is still an elusive commodity in the APCC.