Delhi Congress message to Telangana unit – resolve infighting, fight as one for Jubilee Hills bypoll

Hyderabad: An All-India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting held in Delhi on Saturday, and attended by top leaders, stressed ensuring that internal issues within the party are sorted out.

The attendees included AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, chief minister A Revanth Reddy, deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud.

The team discussed not letting internal problems spill outside the party and strengthening the Congress cadre to make sure the Jubilee Hills by-election is fought as one.

Reasons for the Delhi meeting

There are various reasons for the Delhi meeting of Telangana:

- OSD N Sumanth fiasco

The incident with Forest and endowment minister Konda Surekha and her meeting with Meenakshi Natarajan was reported in detail to the AICC committee. The intervention of Mahesh Kumar Goud and Bhatti Vikramarka was also discussed.

- Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and MLA Adluri Laxman Kumar controversy

The open hurt expressed by Adluri Laxman has caused a lot of embarrassment to the party. AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal asked them to sort out all internal issues amicably and work towards strengthening the party.

- Jubilee Hills by-election

The Jubilee Hills by-election is important for the Congress Party, but the ground situation reported to Delhi is not very encouraging. The ministers were asked to concentrate on the election and work as one.

Complaints received by AICC

Some senior leaders have written letters to the AICC and addressed Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on the prevailing issues in Telangana.

Some leaders have taken up the issue directly with Meenakshi Natarajan. While Minister Konda Surekha’s issue and meeting with Natarajan were heavily televised, others have also approached her discreetly regarding the way issues are being created and how the party is being shamed publicly.

A senior Congress leader said, “In Bihar, Congress ko gali deta aur yaha Jubliee Hills mein hum inka saath dethe, yeh kaise hota? (In Bihar, they criticise Congress, and here in Jubilee Hills, we support them. How is it possible?)” This is what most of the leaders and cadres have complained to the party leadership as they have gone ‘missing’ from the Jubilee Hills bypoll.

What is AICC planning?

The AICC plans to have a meeting in Telangana with all the leaders and ministers of the state. This meeting is aimed at bringing all of them on the same page and ensuring that there is effective coordination.

A senior leader explained, “Right now, the situation is one of a lot of distrust within the party and this is not good. Cadre has no clarity, leaders are doubting each other, there is open name-calling and the visit of police to a minister’s home has only added fuel to the fire. In this situation, there is a major need to get them all on one platform again.”