Rift between Premsagar Rao, Jaganmohan Rao widens further

Differences within the Mancherial Congress have surfaced again after flex posters supporting Peddapalli MP G. Vamshikrishna and M. Jaganmohan Rao were torn down. The incident prompted complaints to officials, while rival camps traded allegations amid reported political tensions

Mancherial: The reported rift between Mancherial MLA K. Premsagar Rao and his former close aide Manthena Jaganmohan Rao appears to be widening, amid reported internal differences within the Congress in the district.

In the latest instance, a section of Congress leaders erected flex posters along important roads across Mancherial town in support of Peddapalli MP G. Vamshikrishna and M. Jaganmohan Rao. The move reportedly angered supporters of Premsagar Rao. Unidentified persons tore down the posters on Saturday.

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Supporters of Jaganmohan Rao brought the incident to the notice of Collector Kumar Deepak. Kumar Deepak was learnt to have instructed Mancherial Municipal Corporation Commissioner Anwesh to inquire into the incident. He is also said to have asked Anwesh to lodge a complaint with the police against those responsible.

Speaking to the media, Jaganmohan Rao’s supporters regretted that tearing down the flex posters amounted to insulting Vamshikrishna, who belongs to the Dalit community. They urged officials to take stern action against those responsible. They also criticised the police for allegedly protecting flex posters put up by Premsagar Rao’s supporters at a junction near the town’s bus station.

Meanwhile, Congress councillors also called on the Collector and requested him to take steps to prevent flex posters targeting Premsagar Rao. The Collector is learnt to have expressed his inability to intervene. The councillors said they would lodge a complaint with the party’s high command against Jaganmohan Rao for allegedly failing to follow protocol.

Jaganmohan Rao was once an influential aide of Premsagar Rao. He was regarded as the legislator’s close associate and was said to have used his proximity to the MLA to settle disputes. However, he has moved closer to Labour Minister Dr G. Vivek Venkataswamy in recent months, amid reported differences between Premsagar Rao and Jaganmohan Rao. Recent reports have also described Jaganmohan Rao as moving closer to Vivek.

On July 18, supporters of Premsagar Rao allegedly tore flex posters of Vamshikrishna and obstructed him from attending a programme at Gudem village in Dandepalli mandal. Show-cause notices were subsequently issued to six Dandepalli leaders, according to the report.

On the other hand, Vivek, who is already reported to be at odds with Premsagar Rao, is seeking to leverage the differences between Jaganmohan Rao and the MLA, according to political sources. The differences between Vivek and Premsagar Rao have been reported since the State Cabinet expansion, after Vivek was inducted while Premsagar Rao was not.