Hyderabad: As hostility and infighting among ministers and MLAs appear to be simmering in various districts, BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's plan to hold ‘Atmeeya Sammelans’ in all Assembly constituencies seems to have received a severe blow.
With the ‘Atmeeya Sammelan’ appearing to have paid good dividends for the party in the Munugode bypoll, the Chief Minister called on party leaders in November to organise similar events with voters every week. Ministers were asked to lead these sammelans with the MLAs in their districts.
The sammelans did not take off in several districts due to infighting between ministers and MLAs, which appears to be escalating in undivided Ranga Reddy, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, and Hyderabad districts. Although the situation is slightly better in the undivided districts of Medak and Adilabad represented by the Chief Minister, finance minister T.Harish Rao, and endowments minister A. Indrakaran Reddy, it has become worse in other districts.
Apart from infighting, another reason given by the party circles for not holding ‘Atmeeya Sammelans’ was the huge expenditure involved. MLAs have claimed in internal deliberations that holding the events covering 10 villages in each mandal would cost at least Rs 1.5 crore each week.
As part of the sammelans, MLAs are required to invite local party leaders and workers, as well as representatives from caste organisations, in an effort at booth-level poll management. They must rent function halls and arrange lunch, tea, snacks, dinner and liquor to conduct meetings from 10 am to 8 pm.
MLAs must obtain feedback from the guests regarding problems encountered by the people in their villages and towns, issues that must be addressed immediately, funds required for effective implementation of welfare schemes and development programmes, and so on.
They must also receive applications from local leaders on a variety of issues and take action to resolve them. The district minister in charge should also attend these meetings, receive applications, and issue directions to officials about the release of funds and the resolution of issues.
In Medchal-Malkajgiri district, MLAs were unwilling to hold the sammelans with minister Ch Malla Reddy because of their ongoing tussle. Four MLAs in the district have publicly defied Malla Reddy, accusing him of discriminating against their constituencies in the sanctioning of development funds.
In Karimnagar district, MLAs are up in arms against minister Gangula Kamalakar and avoiding him, while those in undivided Warangal district are not on good terms with minister Satyavathi Rathod, who represents Mahbubabad district.
In Hyderabad district, MLAs who are backing ministers Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Mohd. Mahmood Ali seem to be engaged in group politics, but MLAs in Nalgonda district are divided in exhibiting their loyalties between minister G. Jagadish Reddy and MLC Koti Reddy.
A cold war is brewing in Nizamabad district between minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy and MLAs over the sharing of nominated posts for their loyalists. The same is happening in Khammam district, where minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar is facing opposition from MLAs over nominated posts.
In Ranga Reddy district, minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, who became minister after defecting from the Congress party to the TRS, is facing opposition from party MLAs in Maheshwaram constituency. Teegala Krishna Reddy is opposing the party's ticket to Sabitha in the 2023 Assembly elections.
