Congress in Telangana goes into ‘Ji Huzoor’ mode

Already, the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) held a committee over scrutiny of applications filed by ticket aspirants last week. As there difference of opinions among leaders, another meeting was conducted here on Sunday.

Hyderabad: Old habits die hard. With all affairs of the Congress in Telangana being controlled by New Delhi and now, closely monitored by the Karnataka Congress as well, predictions of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi that the self-respect of the people of Telangana would be mortgaged appears to have come true.

This became evident in the case of candidate selection for the ensuing Assembly elections. Already, the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) held a committee over scrutiny of applications filed by ticket aspirants last week. As there difference of opinions among leaders, another meeting was conducted here on Sunday.

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This will now be followed with three days meeting by the Screening Committee beginning from Monday. Screening Committee chairman Muralidharan and other members, including Jignesh Mewani and Siddiqui will then hold a meeting with PEC.

Again, District Congress presidents, former MPs, former Ministers and others will meet on Tuesday. Finally the Screening Committee will meet again on Wednesday.

Amidst this scrutiny, Congress leaders in the State will have literally no role in selection or recommendation of candidates. The same was disclosed by TPCC president A Revanth Reddy to party leaders, especially Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who sought two tickets, including Huzurnagar and Kodad (to field his wife N Padmavathi).

In addition to New Delhi calling the shots, the Karnataka Congress is also closely monitoring the state of affairs in the Telangana unit. This came to light with the involvement of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar in the probable merger of YSRTP with the Congress.
More so, the TPCC president had met his Karnataka counterpart a few times in Bengaluru. This should not be blown out of proportion, said a senior Congress leader from Telangana.

Interestingly, the Telangana Congress’s social media unit is also functioning from Bengaluru, reflecting the ‘coordination and monitoring’ by Karnataka Congress, especially in campaign strategies.

Sharing an image of Revanth Reddy’s meeting with DK Shiva Kumar, BRS MLC K Kavitha tweeted: “It was Delhi in the past. It is now again New Delhi but via Bengaluru. State Congress is known for pledging Telangana’s self respect and dancing to New Delhi tunes…”