RG is on Bharat Jodo Yatra; In Telangana his party men are on ‘Congress Todo Yatra’
Seniors who raised banner of revolt assert their
aim was to save the Congress in Telangana, which they nurtured over the years
and being destroyed by defectors from Telugu Desam.
C R Gowri Shanker| Updated: 19th December 2022 6:48 pm IST
Hyderabad: Even as Congress MP and former president of All
India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi is busy with Kanyakumari to
Kashmir “Bharat Jodo Yatra” some of his senior teammates in Hyderabad are in a
“Congress todo” (break Congress) yatra!
All hell broke loose after AICC announced a new political affairs committee and executive committee for the Telangana Congress. Seniors attacked TPCC president A Revanth Reddy for filling keys posts with his “migrant” supporters from Telugu Desam. Hurt, some dozen odd party leaders announced resignation to posts and it’s free for all now.
Fight between “original” senior Congress leaders and “defectors”
from other parties, mostly Telugu Desam, came to fore after AICC appointed A
Revanth Reddy as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president.
V Hanumantha Rao, Jagga Reddy and others raised a banner of
revolt within the party against Revanth Reddy and accused him of ignoring them
in decision making process.
Though Revanth Reddy denies the charge, trouble continues to
haunt Congress in Telangana, which is facing a bulldozer from both ruling
Telangana Rashtra Samithi turned Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata
Party.
But articulate Revanth Reddy is supported by Congress High
Command and some leaders back home.
Dissidence and infighting in Congress are quite normal. But
continuous slide of party in Telangana and other States since NDA came to power
forced Congress high Command to take steps to salvage the party including
electing new AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge from non-Gandhi clan. Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi took the back seat temporarily though.
However, Rahul Gandhi has undertaken Bharat Jodo yatra to revive
the party and regain the lost glory. Luckily, the party got a breather when it
returned to power in Himachal Pradesh. Congress is in power in Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan and now Himachal Pradesh.
Congress has five MLAs Bhatti Vikramarka, Seethakka, T Jagga
Reddy, S Veeraiah and D Sridhar Babu in Telangana.
Seniors who raised banner of revolt assert their aim was to save
the Congress in Telangana, which they nurtured over the years and being
destroyed by defectors from Telugu Desam.
They accuse Revanth Reddy of filling party posts with TD
defectors and weakening the party. They also accuse him of a concerted campaign
against them in social media. Revanth Reddy denied the charge.
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other senior party leaders met at
his residence to take stock of the situation. Among those who attended include
former TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodar Rajanarasimha, Madhu Yakshi
Goud, T Jagga Reddy, A Maheshwar Reddy and others.
Bhatti Vikramarka alleged a
sustained campaign and character assassination has been launched within
Congress in the State since one and half years targeting strong leaders.
“The aim seems to hand over Congress to someone or destroy it,” he alleged.
Former TPCC president and MP, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged in a
recent case it was found that a social media campaign was unleashed not only
against ruling TRS, but also Congress leaders like him.
“Loyal Congress leaders are being targeted by “migrants.” Out of
108 office bearers appointed 60 odd are migrants from Telugu Desam. “What’s the
message being sent? We will take up the issue with Congress High Command,” he
asserts.
But Revanth supporter former Balakonda MLA Anil Kumar Eravathri
defends TPCC chief. “Stop false allegations and work in tandem. Revanth is
being targeted by some. Request senior to work in tandem and bring back
Congress to power. Don’t fall prey to traitors.”
Amid chaos in party, TPCC president, A Revanth Reddy announced
“Haath se haath jodo” yatra from January 26 in the State as per AICC call to
express solidarity with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra.
Reddy announced that he would expose the short comings of ruling
TRS turned BRS and BJP.
But Sunday’s TPCC meeting was boycotted by dissident senior
party leaders. However, Revanth Reddy asserted differences in the party would
be sorted out by High Command.
He also referred to resignation of dozen party leaders hurt by
accusations including MLA Seethakka, ex-MLA Vem Narender Reddy. Congress
leaders who raised banner of revolt have boycotted the meeting, which also saw
some heated exchanges among leaders.
Senior party leaders K Jana Reddy, Mohd Ali Shabbir, Ponnam
Prabhakar, Nagam Janardhan Reddy, Anjan Kumar Yadav, Balram Naik, Mahesh Goud
and others attended. Some leaders took objections to seniors attacking the TPCC
chief.
As things stand, Revanth Reddy has decided to go ahead with his
padayatra and party programmes whether dissidents will join him or not.
If going by Rahul Gandhi’s logic, the party has more “internal
democracy” than others.
Rahul Gandhi when asked about Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot’s recent defiance to the party’s plan to make him national chief
recently said, “In our structure there is clarity. We are not a dictatorship.
We like discussion. We have support among the common people. We fight elections
with the support of our party workers at the grassroots. That’s our way.”
In 2018 elections, Congress got 19 seats and 28.43 per cent
votes in the State while ruling TRS got 88 seats and 46.87 per cent votes.
Bharatiya Janata Party was way third with just 1 seat and 7.01 per cent votes
among others.
Will Congress regain its lost glory in Telangana, only time will
tell.
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