Out with the new — senior leaders in Telangana meet to ‘save Congress’ from PCC chief Revanth Reddy

At the meeting held Saturday, issue of contention was how newcomers — most of whom have jumped ship from Telugu Desam Party, including Reddy — are being prioritised over old timers.

File image of Revanth Reddy | Twitter

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress leaders in November displayed a show of strength on stage during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state. Now, a month later, the party’s senior leaders are holding closed door meetings to ‘save Congress’ from the state’s top leadership, mainly Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Revanth Reddy.

The meeting held Saturday at MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s residence, was attended by party’s senior leaders, such as MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, former Lok Sabha member Madhu Goud Yashki, and former deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha, among others.

The issue of contention was how newcomers in the party — referred to as “migrants” from other parties — are being prioritised over old timers.

Uttam Kumar Reddy, the former PCC Chief, pointed out how a majority of recent appointees in the party committees are outsiders and former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders.

Revanth Reddy, who succeeded Uttam Kumar Reddy in 2021, was also with the TDP till 2017. At the time of his appointment, too, there was a lot of discontent among leaders on how a newcomer was prioritised for the top post, overlooking veterans.

The Congress high command last week approved committees for the running of the PCC. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) approved appointment of 26 District Congress Committee presidents, 24 vice-presidents, and 84 general secretaries, along with executive and political affairs committees.

“At least 50 per cent of the total appointed vice-presidents and general secretaries (108) are people who were once with the Telugu Desam and jumped to Congress. What about people who have dedicated their lives to the party and have been working for decades, they have been sidelined,” Uttam Kumar Reddy told media persons. He is being made part of the executive committee led by the PCC Chief.

“When I was the PCC Chief, I had the support of some people, while few others were not in my favour. But I never prioritised my preferences for such posts,” he added.

According to Yashki, usually for any such key decisions in a party, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) is equally involved in the discussions. “Senior leaders are asked to give suggestions. But such a thing did not happen here at all. There are leaders in Nizamabad who have been working as town presidents, they have not been elevated or appointed in committees. Instead, some migrants from other parties were given preference. What motivation will the old timers have to continue?” Yashki told ThePrint.

ThePrint reached Revanth Reddy’s office via text message for a comment but had not received a response at the time of publishing this report. This article will be updated once a response is received.

‘Revanth Reddy sabotaging the Congress’

The leaders, who now plan to take this issue to the high command, also say that social media handles working in favour of Revanth Reddy are ‘character assassinating’ old timers. According to the leaders, there has been an increase in such posts from various handles, many of which could be working for the PCC.

“He (Revanth Reddy) is sabotaging the Congress by sidelining loyalists. For instance, when Bhatti Vikramarka attended an all-party meeting called by the chief minister in 2021, it was done after Revanth Reddy’s approval and discussing what would be Congress’ stand in the meeting on the issues. But, when it led to a buzz that Vikramarka is discontent with the Congress and attended the meeting, our PCC Chief did not even bother to clarify it. Is that not maligning Congress workers on purpose?” Yashki said to ThePrint. 

Meanwhile, Uttam Kumar Reddy claimed that the police, who recently raided Congress’ war room in Hyderabad, told Reddy that there were social media posts against him, too, in his own party war room.

The Cyber Crime Police, earlier this week, raided political strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s office in the city for allegedly making defamatory posts against K. Chandrashekar Rao-led government. Kanugolu develops political strategies for the Congress in Telangana.

“Imagine it is a Congress war room which is funded by Revanth Reddy and also overseen by AICC state in-charge Manickam Tagore and there were posts against party leader Uttam Kumar Reddy. Why are attempts being made to character assassinate our own men?” Yashki questioned.

This is not the first time that Revanth Reddy is facing opposition from party’s veterans. Terming themselves ‘loyalists’, senior party leaders in March had held a closed-door meeting without the PCC Chief. The agenda of the meeting was discussing how Revanth Reddy took decisions unilaterally, without consulting others, how ‘his men’ have greater control over party affairs and how the party lacked transparent communication.

One of the leaders, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, former MLA and also member of National Disaster Management Authority, quit the party and joined the BJP last month. In his resignation, he expressed similar concerns about both Revanth Reddy and Manickam Tagore.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)