Disenchanted Congress ranks stay away from Praja Palana celebrations in erstwhile Khammam

The celebrations are confined to officials and artistes, who have been conducting cultural programmes here and there with very less public participation.

Khammam: Even as the Congress government is organising Praja Palana celebrations marking one year in power, none of the cadre and leaders in erstwhile Khammam are happy with the party leadership.

The disenchanted party ranks have been staying away from the celebrations, which as a matter of fact lacked lustre. The celebrations are confined to officials and artistes, who have been conducting cultural programmes here and there with very less public participation.

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Neither Khammam district Congress president Puvvalla Durga Prasad nor Kothagudem district Congress president and ex-MLA Podem Veeraiah held meetings with the cadres to prepare them. The same is the case with the three ministers in the district – Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Tummala Nageswara Rao – who did not bother about cadre participation in the celebrations.

This resulted in confusion among the cadres as well as leaders whether they are supposed to celebrate the occasion or not. A common feeling among the party ranks is that their work for the last 10 years to strengthen the Congress in erstwhile Khammam is of no value for the top leadership.

“Prior to Congress coming to power, for 10 years, we have made a lot of sacrifices and suffered a lot as committed Congress workers. When the party came to power, we felt very happy. But the happiness is short-lived given the disorder and lack of recognition to hard working cadres,” a senior party worker in Khammam told Telangana Today.

The three ministers and MLAs have their own coteries and do not care about the needs of senior leaders who have been associated with the party for long. “Even when the BRS was in power, we used to get our work done in government offices and outside. Now in our government, we feel abandoned,” the party worker said.

Meanwhile, the alleged cold war between the three ministers in the district has been proving costly to the cadre and the party. The said differences among them came out vividly on Friday, when a mega food park, conceived during the BRS regime in 2016, was inaugurated at Buggapadu village of Sathupalli mandal in the district.

Ministers Bhatti Vikramarka and Srinivas Reddy both skipped the inauguration of the important project taken up at a cost of 109.59 crore even as IT Minister D Sridhar Babu attended the ceremony. This type of discord among the ministers is not good for the party, said a Congress leader.