Senior Telangana Congress leader Ponnala Laxmaiah has ended his long-standing association with the party by tendering his resignation on Friday, October 13. The leader, who has served as the former Pradesh Congress Committee chief of undivided Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, alleged that the party has deviated from its fundamental ideals and is favouring newcomers instead of senior leaders. His resignation points to the growing dissatisfaction within the Congress ranks.
Ponnala Laxmaiah has been associated with the Congress since 1984 and was four-time MLA of Jangaon constituency. He has also held various cabinet posts. In his resignation letter, he pointed out that the party leadership has shown no interest in discussing critical issues, especially issues of social justice concerning the Backward Classes (BC), who constitute a substantial portion of the population. “It is a shame that if 50 BC leaders go to Delhi to ask for preference to BCs during allotment of seats, they are not even given time to meet the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders. Telangana is a symbol of self-respect. If self-respect is made hostage and BCs revolve around top leaders, the party will lose its reputation,” he said.
He accused the party of selling its tickets to the highest bidder, turning politics into a business. “They put the party up for sale and turned it into a commercial commodity. If the reins of the party are handed over to people who are not related to it, they will sell the party tickets like cattle in the bazaar,” he said.
The former minister added, “Both the Udaipur and Raipur Declarations included provisions that assured respect for seniors. The party said that those who have worked for it will be kept in their hearts and newcomers can get positions only if they work in the party for 5 years … But today they are selling tickets even before joining the party.”
"The Congress has deviated from its core beliefs over the last two years … I find it depressing that experienced party members are treated with indifference, while newcomers are given undue favour by citing survey reports," said the senior leader, expressing discontent with the party relying on political strategists to allot seats.
Ponnala Laxmaiah also said that he had to face neglect from senior party leaders. “For a senior leader like me to have to wait for months for an appointment to discuss party issues is an unfortunate situation. If I go to Delhi for 10 days to meet AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, I am not given even a minute's time,” he alleged, adding that he had repeatedly asked to meet the current Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, but was turned down.
“For the past two years I have been trying to meet the PCC chief [Revanth Reddy]. I was not given any appointment, not even on the telephone and was ignored whenever we met outside,” he alleged. Revanth Reddy, a strong critic of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is the current PCC chief and MP of Malkajgiri constituency. He replaced Uttam Kumar Reddy in July 2021 after the Congress faced a series of defeats in Assembly and general elections.