The intra-party conflict in Telangana Congress appears to have intensified with as many as 13 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) members resigning from their respective posts on Sunday, December 18. They resigned in protest over the remarks of some senior leaders that those who "migrated" to Congress from other parties such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) got prominence under the leadership of TPCC chief Revanth Reddy. The 13 members who resigned include sitting Congress MLA Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) and former legislator Vem Narendar Reddy.
Former Deputy Chief Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh Damodar Rajanarasimha on Saturday, in an apparent reference to some of the former TDP leaders who joined the Congress, sought to know what message would it give to "original Congress activists" if those who "migrated" to the Congress from other parties got prominence. He was flanked by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Congress Lok Sabha member N Uttam Kumar Reddy, former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud and party MLA T Jayaprakash Reddy (known as Jagga Reddy) when he made the comments.
The dissatisfaction of these senior leaders is seen as directed towards the state Congress president and MP Revanth Reddy. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy did not directly respond to reporters' queries on the internal bickering and said that the party's high command would look into all the issues. As per the AICC’s instructions, the party leaders from village to the state level will undertake a padayatra from January 26 in Telangana highlighting the alleged failures of the state and Union governments, he said.
Revanth Reddy alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s government stole valuable information from ‘Congress's War Room,’ referring to the political consultancy Inclusive Minds working for Congress that was recently raided by the Cyber wing of the Cyberabad police. He said all the party leaders and workers will strive to bring Congress to power in the state.
Addressing reporters in Hyderabad, former MLA Eravathri Anil made an appeal to the disgruntled senior leaders to work together and bring the party back to power in the state. He added that everybody has respect for seniors in the party. However, Anil took exception to the description of some party leaders as "migrants." He urged the senior leaders to put up a united fight against the governments (Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana and Bharatiya Janata Party in the Union government).
After the Congress's poor performance in the recent bye-poll to the Munugode Assembly constituency, the party's state unit has been faced with infighting as several party leaders recently expressed dissatisfaction over the jumbo PCC committees announced sometime back.