Hyderabad, January 27: The stormy petrel of the Congress in the state has found a voice again. Former Congress MP from Khammam and now AICC spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury has fallen back on Telangana. In her quest for a Rajya Sabha nomination, the ‘strong’ lady is rallying together all the forces from the region.
Towards that end, she got JAC leaders like K Swamy Goud, V Srinivas Goud and Devi Prasad to meet AICC incharge of AP affairs, Ghulam Nabi Azad, for a breakfast meeting at her Banjara Hills Road No 12 residence last week. According to sources, the Telangana employees’ leaders assured her of their support, provided she can get the government to address three issues that are concerning the Telangana state government employees: Payment of the 42-day salary which they lost because of the Sakala Janula Samma (general strike), withdrawal of all cases against the employees and an assurance that the provisions of GO 610 will be implemented.
Apparently, by the time the TJAC leaders arrived, other Telangana-neutral leaders like deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha , ministers D Nagender , Mukesh Goud and Congress MLA from Sangareddy TJayaprakash Reddy were already there at the breakfast meeting. The sources said that by the time Azad left, Renuka had given him the impression that she has the T leaders on her side. “From the Congress point of view, she will be a good choice as a leader for the party from the Telangana region. She is not rabid publicly for Telangana like K Keshava Rao. In fact, she has assured Azad that she will work to be a counter to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao,” said AICC sources. “I have represented Telangana in Parliament for more than 20 years than those who criticize my credentials. I would leave the issue of my RS nomination to the Congress president,” Renuka told TOI from Nainital on election duty for the Congress. In the present circumstances , many MPs and MLAs are said to be backing her. “The fact that Azad agreed to have a breakfast meeting at her residence in which many of us were present is testimony that the Congress is looking to rehabilitate her. Unlike many other Congress leaders, she fought the Lok Sabha election from Khammam and lost. She is the Congress spokesperson and close to 10 Janpath. So what is wrong if she wants a Rajya Sabha nomination. Azad has already assured her of it, provided she does her ground work. That is what she is doing now,” said a close aide of Renuka.
What remains to be seen is whether Renuka can change the contours of the state or merely end up as one more of the political leaders who would basically further her cause. “You don’ know Renuka , she can do what she wants to,” said her aide. Well, the world is waiting to know.
—-Agencies