Is Congress ka haath Congress ke saath? One look at how the party functions in Telangana, it would not seem so.
Fireworks are expected at the Congress Legislature party (CLP) meeting scheduled for Monday evening, ahead of the short session of the Telangana assembly for passing the GST bill and the target of attack, ironically will be the leader of the CLP, Jana Reddy. The veteran leader is accused of undermining the state leadership by soft-pedalling on issues with which the opposition party is trying to corner the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti government.
The latest flashpoint has been Jana Reddy’s disputing the Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy’s contention that there was a previous agreement between united Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra on 152 metre height for the Tummidihatti barrage over the Godavari river. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Uttam Kumar Reddy engaged in a war of words till Jana Reddy poured cold water by taking the TRS side. KCR’s daughter Kavitha appreciating Jana Reddy for “speaking the truth” was like sprinkling salt over Congress wounds.
Uttam Kumar Reddy’s claim was that since Tummidihatti barrage is the only irrigation project in Telangana with high gravity to take water to most parts of the state, reducing its height from the 152 metres (proposed by the previous Congress govt, according to him) to 148 metres now will adversely affect the interests of Telangana farmers. He claimed an agreement was signed on May 5, 2012, a contention subsequently denied by Jana Reddy.
This is not the first time Congress in Telangana has been shown as a divided house. In the last two years, on several occasions, Jana Reddy has been accused of forgetting he is an opposition leader and not a member of the pink party. Even in the recent case of the Special Investigation Team probe ordered into Nayeem’s murder, Jana Reddy went against the official party line expressed by his counterpart in the Telangana Legislative Council, Shabbir Ali who demanded a CBI probe. But Jana Reddy said the SIT probe was sufficient.
With the number of Congress MLAs who have crossed over to the TRS, it is but natural for Congress leadership to feel suspicious about possible Trojan horses. Before every assembly session, Jana Reddy is requested to be aggressive but this time, his going against the party line has taken the wind out of the Congress sails even before it could mount an offensive.
There are many in the Congress legislature party who are eyeing Jana Reddy’s position and this episode is only likely to provide them with more ammunition against the leader. Even otherwise, the party is seen dominated by Nalgonda district as both Jana Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy hail from the same district.
