Hyderabad: Even though some months are left for the prestigious 2019 elections, various political parties in the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are plagued by infighting and bickerings over-allotment of seats and party tickets.
The Congress party in Telangana, which was asserting that it would come back to power in the State by unseating the ruling TRS in the coming elections, is already a divided house. Group rivalry and caste politics in the district units of the party have become the order of the day. While some senior party leaders are crying hoarse for unseating Uttam Kumar Reddy as TPCC president, there was also a demand for replacing K. Jana Reddy as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. These disturbing facts reached even AICC president Rahul Gandhi and other Central party leaders, who tried to set the crumbling TPCC house in order and warned them with stern warnings and adviced to work unitedly for the coming elections. However, as the saying goes “old habits die hard”, there was no change in the party leaders mend their ways.
Thus, instead of forging a united front to take on the arch rival TRS, the State Congress leaders are busy crossing swords with each other for their own personal political agenda. The latest to kick up a row in the party was the comment by former Indian Cricket Captain and former MP Mohd Azharuddin that he would like to contest in the coming elections from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, which is now being represented by BJP’s Bandaru Dattaraya.
Azharuddin’s desire for opting Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat did no go well with the former MP and Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee president Anjan Kumar Yadav, who has set his eyes to contest for a third time from Secunderabad. It is pertinent to note here that the State Congress leadership was toying with the idea of fielding the cricketer from Hyderabad, which was being represented by MIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi. As a matter of fact, the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat is considered as an impregnable bastion of the AIMIM due to the domination of Muslim minorities.
Despite himself being a popular Muslim sportsperson and leader, Azhardduin might have realized that it would be a Herculean task to unseat Owaisi in Hyderabad and hence desired to choose Secunderabad as a safe bet. However, this provoked Anjan Kumar Yadav and his followers so much so that they even created a ruckus at a meeting of the party workers on Monday.
This was not an isolated incident regarding bickerings in the Congress. Recently at a meeting in Nalgonda district, the senior party leaders Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and his brother Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy created a ruckus and even demanded that the TPCC president step down. The induction of Revanth Reddy into the party from the TDP and Nagam Janardhan Reddy from the BJP also did not go well with the party leaders and workers in Mahbubnagar district. Even in Khammam district, the Congress workers are divided and sore over the autocratic and dominant role of former MP Renuka Chowdhary.
In the neighboring Andhra Pradesh, the Congress leaders are divided over the re-induction of former chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy into the party. Ever since united AP was bifurcated during his tenure as chief minister of the combined State, Kiran Kumar has virtually took political sanyas. Therefore, many senior party leaders in the State wonder in what way the party would be strengthened or gained by inducting “dead horses”. Many senior leaders opined that instead the AICC should try to bring into the party fold leaders from Backward and Scheduled Castes like Mudragadda Padmanabham and Harsha Kumar.
Even the ruling TRS in Telangana was not free from internal bickerings. In fact, there was a virtual revolt in Nizamabad district against party’s Rajya Sabha member D. Srinivas, a senior Congress leader, who defected to the TRS. Interestingly, the revolt against Srinivas was engineered at the behest of Chief Minister KCR’s daughter and party Lok Sabha member K Kavitha. The district TRS leaders, led by Kavitha, even submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister to sack Srinivas alleging anti-party activities.
Discontentment also started brewing among the TRS leaders following reports that the Chief Minister was not happy with the functioning of as many as 49 MLAs, including half a dozen ministers. A series of surveys undertaken by the CM, including some from Intelligence agencies, seemed to have indicated about the non-performance of these leaders. Speculations started floating that these non-forming ministers and MLAs would be denied party tickets in the coming elections. Some of them, who are facing the threat of being denied party tickets, are defectors from the TDP and Congress.
As a matter of fact, as many as 17 MLAs belonging to the TDP and Congress have switched loyalty towards TRS and the party leadership was continuing its efforts to lure more leaders before the elections. KCR has been assuring that all those who have winning chances, including those who had defected from other parties, would be given party tickets for the ensuing elections. This has created a heart-burn among those who have been sailing with the party from its inception.
The BJP was also boasting of deposing the TRS and the Congress in Telangana was not bereft of internal bickerings. It is a well known fact that BJP Telangana State president K Laxman and Floor leader in the Assembly G Kishen Reddy do not see eye to eye on various issues. BJP national president Amit Shah, during his recent visit to the city, had strongly sent a message to the State party leaders to bury their differences and work for the success of the party. The present internal bickerings in various parties was only the tip of iceberg and it would come as a surprise if it reaches alarming proportions as the elections near and at the time of allotment of party tickets. (NSS)