Meenakshi Natarajan’s padayatra triggers questions within Congress

Congress’ decision to send Meenakshi Natarajan on a padayatra in Telangana is being viewed as a subtle review of CM Revanth Reddy’s leadership. With growing concerns over local polls and internal rifts, the yatra may reshape party dynamics

Hyderabad: The Congress has for long been synonymous with padayatras, right from Rahul Gandhi‘s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ to much before that, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s historic one through erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

However, all the padayatras taken up by State leaders have had some history, like how YSR was made to wait for six months by the party high command when he wanted to embark on the padayatra in 2003. After his demise, his son YS Jaganmohan Reddy was also made to wait for long before taking up the ‘Odarpu Yatra’.

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In 2023, when the then TPCC president A Revanth Reddy wanted to launch a padayatra, the party high command directed the then CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to take out a padayatra from the other side of the State.

There were different political connotations to all these, and now with the party high command suddenly directing AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan to take up a padayatra, eyebrows are being raised.

On the face of it, though many feel it as a move to boost the party cadre’s morale ahead of the local body elections, others feel this is a move to elicit genuine feedback from leaders at the field level about A Revanth Reddy’s functioning as a Chief Minister.

A few weeks ago, the Chief Minister had entrusted the task and responsibility of ensuring success for the Congress in the local body elections to district in-charge Ministers. However, after a few days, the Chief Minister took up the responsibility himself.

This move triggered concerns in the party high command, with doubts being raised whether the Chief Minister himself being in the forefront of local body elections campaign would lead to a debacle.

There were also allegations in the party that Revanth Reddy was good at influencing party in-charges and ensuring that the party high command would not get a real picture over the state of affairs in the State unit.

This is said to have compelled Rahul Gandhi to appoint his close aide Meenakshi Natarajan as the new Telangana in-charge and as has been seen, she has been applying brakes to Revanth Reddy’s plans right from day one.

For instance, a few MLAs backed by the Chief Minister failed to get a cabinet berth and those he opposed were inducted into the cabinet. The selection of MLCs also saw the party high command sending a clear message as to who calls the shots.

In this backdrop, Natarajan’s padayatra bears more significance. More than for the public, the exercise is being seen as an attempt to present the real picture of the Congress and its leaders at the ground level in Telangana to the high command in Delhi.

After the continuous denial of appointments by Rahul Gandhi to the Chief Minister, the way in which the caste census was conducted and the economic downfall of Telangana, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was asked to make a presentation on the exercise at Indira Bhavan. Now with several complaints over corruption in the State Congress and Ministers, the party high command is said to be looking at a detailed investigation during the padayatra and then act accordingly.

When the Chief Minister went to New Delhi recently, five Ministers had accompanied him. Natarajan’s padayatra was announced in party circles after Revanth Reddy left for Hyderabad even as the Ministers stayed back.

The feedback that Natarajan gets and transfers to the high command could hold a lot of significance for Revanth Reddy, and also for those who have been opposing him within the party.