KCR, KTR fume over leaders\' spat in public

Hyderabad: With internal squabbles in the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) damaging the party's image and reputation, the party leadership warned warring factions in all districts against washing their dirty linen in public.

Party sources said TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, working president and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao took a serious view of Sunday's developments in the Kollapur constituency where MLA B. Harshavardhan Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao were engaged in a public spat which subsequently led to the arrest of the MLA.

After the tussle, the party leadership directed warring factions in all the districts to sort out differences at party platforms and not in public. The party leadership has also made it clear that indiscipline at any level will not be tolerated.

The party leadership has reportedly decided to issue show-cause notices to Harshavardhan Reddy and Krishna Rao before initiating disciplinary action. Although Jupally claimed that his tussle with the MLA was personal and the party was in no way connected, the party leadership is understood to be angry over the incident as it tarnished the image of the party.

Although 12 Congress MLAs defected to the TRS three years back, the ruling party leaders and cadre are yet to come to terms with the new inductees. The TRS leaders and cadre are not cooperating with the defected MLAs and holding party activities on their own. The TRS leaders in these constituencies have been projecting themselves as the party's candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls which is often leading to the public spat between both the warring groups.

Apart from the fight between traditional TRS leaders and defected MLAs, the issue of 'group politics' in the TRS has also come to the fore in several districts. This has become a cause of concern for party leadership which aims to capture power for the third time in a row by winning the 2023 Assembly polls.