Telangana PCC chief A Revanth Reddy has emerged unscathed from round one of showdown between him and senior Congress leaders with veteran party leader Digvijaya Singh, publicly declaring that action would be taken against even senior leaders if the act of rebellion was repeated.
Reddy was seen walking beside Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ today along with DMK MP Kanimozhi and Deepender Singh Hooda in Haryana. Singh was sent as a trouble shooter after a section of the senior leaders launched ‘Save Congress’ campaign within the party accusing Revanth Reddy of promoting ‘migrants’ from the TDP in the Pradesh Congress Committees.
“Every political leader has ambitions but party discipline comes first. I am urging all Congress leaders, particularly the senior leaders with folded hands whatever you have to say, communicate within the party. Talk to the party leadership,” he said.
“There is no need for allegations and counter-allegations. The Congress leadership has decided that this incident should not be repeated. If this is repeated, then disciplinary action will be taken against him even if he is a heavyweight,” warned Singh, after meeting both the warring groups over the past two days.
The seniors had also tried to get Reddy and the AICC in-charge of Telangana, Manickram Tagore replaced but to no avail. Singh said cryptically that “it was not my brief” when asked about the demands of the senior leaders.
The rebels included former PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka and former Deputy Chief Minister Rajanarsimha. Singh also spoke to another dissident Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who also had a fallout with Revanth Reddy.
The rebels complained about double agents in the party in a reference to Revanth Reddy, who joined the Congress only in 2017 after the TDP folded up in Telangana. They claimed before Digvijaya Singh that he was N Chandrababu Naidu’s agent.
Singh, however, dismissed the arguments over seniority, saying that there were no seniors and juniors in the Congress citing the instance of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who became PCC chief at the age of 34 while he himself had headed MP Congress at 38.
Although the Congress has not done well in by-poll under him, he is the party’s last hope for a revival. Moreover, when ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ passed through Telangana his organizational skills were on display.
However, a number of Congress leaders in recent times have crossed over to the BJP and the numbers may increase if the conflict was not resolved.