The recent police raid on a political strategist company belongs to Congress party leaders made the wrong statements in public to sense the partiality among the leadership and termed as ‘Covert Politics’. This moves dismantled the leadership of the party and collapsed the entire system.
Following the searches on the political consulting firm “Inclusive Minds,” a dispute between two opposing groups of the Telangana Congress has come to light, signalling a serious crisis ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections next year.
All the Telangana Congress leaders were supposed to get together to combat the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) administration following the recent raids by the Hyderabad police on “Inclusive Minds,” the political advisory firm working for the Indian National Congress. The operations have instead resulted in an open fight between two factions of the Telangana Congress. Prior to the Telangana Assembly elections, which will take place next year, members of the two warring factions have been making ambiguous accusations against one another, signalling a serious crisis within the party’s state organisation.
Senior members of the Congress, including Uttam Kumar Reddy, Madhu Yaskhi Goud, former minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, T. Jagga Reddy, A. Maheshwar Reddy, K. Premsagar Rao, and Kodanda Reddy, called for “saving Congress” from “immigrants” coming from the Telugu Desam Party on December 17. (TDP). This was a clear reference to Revanth Reddy, president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), who was a TDP supporter till 2017 before switching to the Congress.
Recently, the prominent politicians stated above met at Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, the leader of the Congress Legislature Party. In a statement to the media following the meeting, they voiced their displeasure with Revanth Reddy without directly mentioning him. They said that the leader of the Telangana Congress was was favouring certain leaders from his camp by giving them crucial posts in the party’s district committees, overlooking the “original” Congress leaders who had been working for the party for many years.
Revanth’s predecessor as head of the TPCC, Uttam Kumar Reddy, even claimed that Inclusive Minds had been circulating false information against key Congress officials. Sunil Kanugolu, a political consultant, is the CEO of Inclusive Minds.
Uttam Kumar Reddy spoke to the media and said, “I believe the 33 District Congress Committee posts were made just for the purpose of degrading certain of us. It makes me really sad. Having so many figures from outside the party serving as vice presidents of executive committees is not helpful for the Congress party. Fifty to sixty leaders from the Telugu Desam Party were named among the 108 committee members.
Uttam said that the “original” Congress leaders will convene again to “Save Congress.” Challenging the postings, he said that the senior leaders will meet the All India Congress Committee (AICC) soon. Implying that Revanth Reddy was covertly engaged in maligning senior leaders through social media with the help of Inclusive Minds, he said, “The Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand told me that along with defamatory posts against BRS and BJP, they (Inclusive Minds) were making posts against us too.”
After the meeting at Bhatti Vikramarka’s residence, Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy – who is accused of working against Congress’s interest in favour of his brother Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy, who recently switched allegiance from Congress to BJP – expressed his solidarity with the senior leaders.
Responding to the charges made by Uttam Kumar Reddy and others, former MLA Eravathri Anil Kumar came out in support of Revanth Reddy. Anil lashed out at Uttam Kumar Reddy and said, “Do you have any proof to substantiate the allegations that Inclusive Minds was making defamatory posts against you? It is ridiculous to say that the Congress political strategist Sunil Kanugolu will make posts against Uttam Kumar Reddy. Do you think that the Congress people will believe you?” Accusing the senior leaders who have undermined the leadership of Revanth Reddy as the “actual coverts,” Anil questioned why they did not protest against the raids on Inclusive Minds.
Anil also questioned why the senior leaders did not speak against Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, when he was openly supporting his brother Raj Gopal Reddy when he contested from the BJP in the recently held Munugode bye-election. Anil alleged that the senior leaders had made “internal dealings” and ensured that the Congress party lost the bye-poll.
“When Uttam was the TPCC president, Bhatti Vikramarka was the working president. Is it not true that you treated Bhatti Vikramarka inferiorly because he is a Dalit?” Anil asked. He alleged that Uttam Kumar Reddy also tried to lobby for the post of Leader of Opposition, attempting to snatch the post away from Bhatti Vikramarka who was the frontrunner. #KhabarLive has learnt that the senior leaders challenging Revanth Reddy will be convening another meeting on December 20.
Meanwhile, offended by the statements of the senior leaders, 13 leaders, who had defected to the party from the TDP in the past, announced their resignations from party posts.
According to reports, Narender Reddy, Seethakka, Vijay Rama Rao, Erra Shekhar, and others said they would send their resignations to Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Working President. The resignations kept in abeyance for party disciplinary actions and notices. #KhabarLive #hydnews #hydlive
