AICC steps in to rein in Telangana Congress amid growing rift

The Congress high command held marathon consultations in New Delhi with Telangana leaders to address infighting, poor coordination between the government and party organisation, and dissatisfaction among cadres.

Hyderabad: The Congress high command has stepped in to arrest growing infighting and improve coordination within its Telangana unit, convening marathon consultations in New Delhi over the last couple of days.

Despite the ongoing Parliament session, the meetings which were held at the AICC headquarters “Indira Bhavan” brought together the party’s top national leadership, including AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and others, signalling the seriousness with which the leadership viewed the developments in Telangana.

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The final round of deliberations on Wednesday was attended exclusively by Telangana leaders, including AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy, C Damodar Rajanarasimha, and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, besides other senior leaders.

According to party sources, the high command expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of coordination between the State government and the party organisation, which it felt was hurting the Congress politically despite being in power.

Senior leaders were told that the government and the party should function in tandem and that all important political and administrative decisions must be taken only after consultation with the party high command.

The AICC leadership is learnt to have made it clear that neither the Chief Minister nor the TPCC president should take unilateral decisions, stressing that collective leadership and coordination with the AICC would guide the party’s functioning in Telangana. The clear instructions to this effect were given following recent one-to-one consultations held by the party Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan in Hyderabad.

The discussions also focused on feedback gathered by the central leadership regarding growing discontent among party leaders and cadres, organisational shortcomings and the perception that long-serving Congress workers were being overlooked while those who joined the party after it came to power were receiving greater prominence and positions.

The meeting also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken earlier by the State Coordination Committee and discussed measures to strengthen coordination between the government and the organisation ahead of the local body elections.

Sources said the leadership deliberated on filling pending nominated posts in government corporations and institutions, besides a partial overhaul of organisational positions in the State unit to improve political management. However, it has been decided to consider them only after the completion of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The AICC also reviewed the party’s preparedness for the SIR and is understood to have expressed concern over the lack of seriousness shown by some leaders in participating in the programme. Leaders were instructed to intensify the exercise and ensure greater involvement at the grassroots level.

The high command also directed the Telangana leadership to effectively communicate the Revanth Reddy government’s welfare and development initiatives to the people while strengthening the party’s organisational network.