HYDERABAD: The Congress in Telangana state on Saturday plunged into a severe crisis with a number of senior party leaders, who have been in the party from the start of their respective political careers, declaring that they are launching a ‘Save Congress in Telangana’ movement to protect the party from what they described as a “leader who came into the Congress after shifting loyalties from party to party”, and called it a battle between the “original Congress” and “migrants from TD”.
In a clear attack on Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy, without naming him, senior leaders slammed him for “packing” the recently announced party executive with “migrants from the TD”, and said this move by Reddy, himself a former TD leader, was a clear “conspiracy to weaken the party”.
They also said there was a sustained campaign on social media to weaken the party and strong leaders, indicating that the targets were those who were not in agreement with Reddy and the way the TPCC president is running the party affairs.
Among those who met at the residence of Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka here to take stock of the recent events in the party, included former TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, MLA T. Jagga Reddy, Madhu Yashki Goud, Damodar Rajnarasimha, and A. Maheshwar Reddy.
Vikramarka, who along with the others spoke to the media after the meeting, said a sustained campaign was going on within the Congress in the state for the past year and a half to target and weaken strong leaders. He warned that character assassination will hurt the whole party and not just those who are being targeted.
He called for “serious action against those promoting such activity.” This is an attempt to either hand over the Congress to someone, or weaken it fully, or to take complete control of the party, he said.
“In view of what is happening, we decided that senior leaders need to protect the party and launch a ‘Save Congress’ initiative,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the issue was about how leaders and party workers who have spent their entire political careers in Congress and “migrants from the
TDP.” He said senior leaders and workers have been sidelined by the current state party leadership and that of the 108 office bearers appointed recently, some 60 are “migrants from the TDP. What kind of a signal does this send to the party workers?”
He said that this issue will be taken to the notice of the party high command.
The Nalgonda Lok Sabha member said, “I too was the TPCC president. The CLP
leader is an equal partner in all decisions taken by the party and he was ignored. I too faced opposition during my tenure, but never did I try to capture the party or fill it with my followers.”
Some of the DCC presidents have been deliberately insulted in the new appointments. Having a vice-president and general secretaries from outside
the party is not good for the Congress, he said.
Madhu Yashki Goud went a step further declaring that the current attempt to
destroy the Congress was being led by “characterless people” who changed
parties.
“Those who are in cahoots with the ruling party, doing business with it, have no right to question our commitment to Congress,” he said, adding: “it is time to question the commitment to Congress of the individual who is leading the party in the state.”
