Uncertainty over continuation of Congress padayatra

The Congress’ Janahita Padayatra, led by AICC in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, remains stalled with no clarity on its resumption. Internal disagreements and shifting leadership roles have added to the uncertainty, leaving party workers anxious over the programme’s future.

Hyderabad: Confusion prevails in the Congress cadre over AICC incharge Meenakshi Natarajan’s “Janahita Padayatra”, with no clarity yet on when the programme will resume and whether it will.

The padayatra was abruptly halted at Khanapur on Sunday, as Congress Ministers, MLAs and leaders had to take special trains and flights to New Delhi to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar on August 5, 6 and 7.

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Before leaving for the protest, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud had announced that the padayatra would resume on August 8. However, following the debacle over securing Presidential assent for extending 42 per cent reservations to BCs despite the New Delhi protest, the Chief Minister, Ministers and TPCC president returned to Hyderabad without any update on the schedule.

Even on Saturday, when a few Congress Ministers and the TPCC president met at Gandhi Bhavan to review Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s presentation on irregularities in voter enrolment and other issues, there was no discussion on restarting the padayatra or finalising a revised route. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and others were present at the meeting.

From the outset, the padayatra has been mired in confusion. Initially, it was announced that the AICC incharge would lead it. However, after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy objected to announcing the programme without his consultation, it was declared that the TPCC president would head it.

During a reported argument between Natarajan and Revanth Reddy over the event, the Chief Minister had maintained that his position could not be undermined by organising such programmes without his knowledge. Natarajan countered that the party high command decides such matters, describing the padayatra as a party initiative aimed at gathering ground-level feedback from workers and the public on multiple issues.

As per the original first phase schedule, after Khanapur the padayatra was to proceed through Choppadandi constituency and conclude at Wardhannapet constituency. However, no formal announcement has been made so far, leaving the cadre anxious and uncertain.