There was tension in the brain-storming session of the Congress party at the L B Stadium here on Sunday. The PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana and MP Ponnam Prabhakar were engaged in a verbal duel right on the dais.
While Ponnam said homage should be paid to the martyrs of Telangana, Botchsa smoothly brushed aside the demand by stating that in that case homage should be paid to the Nilam cyclone victims. Finally, at the intervention of the AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, the issue was settled and homage was paid to the ‘T’ martyrs.
Addressing the meeting, Ponnam Prabhakar has said that it was an insult to the martyrs of Telangana if homage was not paid to them by the leaders of the party sitting on the dais. He said all the participants should stand up and pay homage. He said this has proved that there was no value for the voice of Telangana. He said that party workers were worried that Congress party was unable to fill nominated posts despite being in power for two terms. He also said that only individuals were carrying importance in the party and not workers. When Ponnam was speaking angrily, microphone was disconnected and the media could not listen what he was saying for a while.
Another MP Anjan Kumar Yadav expressed anguish that BCs were not getting their due share in the party. Mentioning about the BC declaration of the TDP, he said why the Congress was unable to speak on this. He also questioned if there was one justice for minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana and another for Dharmana Prasada Rao. He stated that workers were doubting that injustice was done to Mopidevi because he was a BC. He said they were all trying to save the party in the Telangana region. He also questioned the government as to why it was providing security to Chandrababu Naidu and Sharmila during their padayatras.
He has alleged that the government was showing interest in providing security to them.
When Ponnam has called upon all the participants to stand up and pay homage to Telangana martyrs, only some stood up.
–Agencies