Hyderabad, December 13: The murky group politics of Congress, reminiscent of pre-YSR days, appear to have returned.
Two days after former minister and MLA Konda Surekha came out all guns blazing at MP and Government advisor KVP Ramachandra Rao, Congress circles are still searching for clues to find out what it indicates in terms of equations in the future.
There are only three ways in which Surekha’s open letter to KVP could be looked at: 1) She acted on her own; 2) at the behest of YSR’s son, Jagan Mohan Reddy who has chartered his own course; or 3) it could be the handiwork of those at the helm to isolate KVP in the party and the government.
One version doing the rounds in political circles is that Surekha’s husband, Murali, was instrumental in making her write the letter in which she used the harshest language possible to hit out at KVP directly and indirectly at YSR. Murali and KVP have not been on good terms even when YSR was alive and he is said to be behind whatever political step his wife takes.
However, what baffled the Congress circles was that Surekha did not get the plot right even if she was acting at someone’s behest to attack KVP, the numero uno during the YSR dispensation.
If KVP was responsible for all the scandals that surrounded irrigation projects, the ultimate sanction and, thereby, the blame would lie at YSR’s doorstep.
Not music to the ears of Jagan at a time when he is trying to project his father as the lone savior of people and encash on his legacy.
“If legacy is what Surekha said in her letter, then it is not worth talking about. Unconsciously or otherwise, she has landed almost all sections in the Congress in terrible embarrassment,” a senior leader close to Jagan lamented.
Even KVP aides are still inclined to believe that the letter would not have had the sanction of Jagan. The fact of the matter is that both Jagan and KVP know so much about each other that it would be politically unwise for either to expose the other. “If the former MP has indeed done it, it reflects his hollowness in terms of political skills,” a KVP aide said.
The third inspiration for the letter is also not being ruled out, though it is doubtful if the Congress would open two battlefronts at one time: attacking KVP indirectly and taking on Jagan directly. It is not known whether KVP is completely out of the scheme of things as far as government functioning is concerned but what is clear is that he is no longer playing the same kind of role he did when Rosaiah was in power. Ever since Jagan quit the Congress and announced his intention to launch his own party, there has been speculation that Surekha, who played the role of his ardent supporter all along, is looking at alternatives.
Jagan’s clout in Telangana is expected to be limited and Surekha desperately needs the support of the government to survive in the faction politics of Warangal.
Having struck a jarring note during the Rosaiah regime, Surekha’s letter would surely stick to the government if and when she gets close to it.
—Agencies