Meenakshi Natarajan’s ‘padayatra’ stirs debate within Telangana Congress

Meenakshi Natarajan’s upcoming padayatra in Telangana has sparked political debate within the Congress. Questions over trust in CM Revanth Reddy and TPCC leadership, internal rifts, and high command’s motives dominate discussions as the AICC leader prepares for her grassroots outreach

Hyderabad: The proposed padayatra of AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan in the State has sparked an intense political debate within ruling party circles over the motive behind the yatra.

Does it indicate a trust deficit between Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the party high command? Is the padayatra intended to gauge public sentiment? If that is the case, does it imply that the high command does not fully trust the feedback provided by the Chief Minister and TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud?

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These are the three questions being widely discussed in the political circles, particularly among detractors of Revanth Reddy in the State capital.

Meenakshi Natarajan is scheduled to begin her padayatra from Thursday (July 31). According to the schedule released by TPCC on Monday, her padayatra will also include shramadanam. Incidentally, this marks the first time an AICC in-charge of a State is undertaking a padayatra in any State.

Party leaders are surprised by this new initiative, as they do not recall any such instance in the past—neither in Telangana nor elsewhere in the country.

A section of leaders believes that the initiative is aimed at boosting morale (‘josh’) among the party cadre, especially with local body elections approaching. However, many do not share this view and see it instead as an attempt by the high command to gather direct feedback from the public on the implementation of government schemes.

Such an exercise would also offer grassroots-level workers an opportunity to interact directly with the AICC leader, enabling her to gain an ‘unbiased’ perspective of the ground reality. But doesn’t that also imply that the high command is wary of the inputs coming from the Chief Minister and the TPCC leadership?

It is no secret that the Gandhi family has been cold-shouldering Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for some time. Except for a recent meeting in Delhi last week, he was reportedly denied appointments with Rahul Gandhi, even as other leaders—including TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, a few ministers, senior leaders like Jagga Reddy, and MP Mallu Ravi—were granted meetings without much delay.

“The role of an AICC in-charge is to serve as a bridge between the State unit and the party high command. The in-charge observes the political situation, coordination among ministers, MLAs, and other leaders, and submits regular reports,” said a senior leader at Gandhi Bhavan.

“Given that Meenakshi Natarajan is a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, her padayatra has undoubtedly generated a lot of curiosity within the party,” the leader added.

During her week-long padayatra, Natarajan is expected to cover one Assembly constituency in each of the erstwhile districts. In addition to shramadanam, she will hold meetings with local party leaders, including MPs, MLAs, DCC office-bearers, mandal and block presidents, and others.

The Telangana Congress unit is currently grappling with several internal issues—rifts between loyalists and turncoats, lack of coordination among MLAs and MPs, and dissatisfaction among leaders over insufficient recognition for their contributions to the party.

To add to the turmoil, the Chief Minister’s recent admission that his government resorted to phone tapping has sparked fresh controversy within the party.