Factions within Congress come to fore again in Zaheerabad

Factionalism within the Congress resurfaced in Sangareddy after appointments of mandal and town party presidents triggered protests. Leaders accused Zaheerabad MP Suresh Shetkar and Agam Chandrashekhar of making unilateral appointments and demanded intervention from the TPCC leadership.

Sangareddy: Differences among Congress leaders came to the fore once again after the party leadership recently appointed mandal and town presidents in the constituency. Accusing Zaheerabad MP Suresh Shetkar and party constituency in-charge Agam Chandrashekhar of securing the posts for leaders who had joined the Congress from other parties recently, party leaders and cadres from across the constituency staged a protest at Gandhi Bhavan.

The factions opposing these appointments had visited Gandhi Bhavan under the leadership of SETWIN Chairman N Giridhar Reddy and another senior leader S Ujwal Reddy. They raised the issue before TPCC President B Mahesh Goud and forced him to cancel the appointments of the Zaheerabad and Mogudampally mandal party presidents. The leaders opposing the recent appointments accused Shetkar and Chandrashekhar of securing the appointments for their followers unilaterally without consulting Giridhar Reddy and Ujwal Reddy.

---

They accused the party leadership of appointing mandal party presidents only at the behest of Shetkar and Chandrashekhar, ignoring their requests. Even though the Assembly constituency was reserved for SCs, the leaders said the party had failed to appoint even one SC as a mandal president. After forcing the party to cancel the appointments of two mandal party presidents, the faction was trying to get a few more appointments cancelled by lobbying with the high command.

Interestingly, Shetkar and Chandrashekhar had separate offices, while Giridhar Reddy and Ujwal Reddy were operating from a single office. Since the three leaders were maintaining their own groups, the party had divided into factions even at the village level. Officials were also struggling to work in the constituency as leaders were accusing them of supporting rival groups. The party cadres urged the TPCC to hold meetings with the constituency leaders to save the party. Otherwise, they said, the party would lose all elections in the constituency.