Differences among senior leaders of the Telugu Desam Party Telangana State (TDP-TS) unit over the possible alliances in the next elections have deepened.
Crisis within the TDP-TS started with the group led by party’s working president A. Revanth Reddy favouring joint action with the opposition parties, including the Congress, against the “anti-people policies” of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to build up the tempo for the next elections while the other group opposed the move. Party’s Polit Bureau member M. Narsimhulu and others reportedly voiced opposition against any relationship with the Congress as it would go against the grain of the TDP that was formed to fight Congress policies.
Heated debate was stated to have been witnessed at a meeting of senior TDP-TS leaders convened to resolve the impasse within the party on Friday.
A section of leaders who were against the Congress staged a walkout in protest against Mr. Revanth Reddy’s reported decision to ditch the party. The leaders reportedly questioned Mr. Reddy’s intentions in meeting Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, which had sent out wrong signals.
The leaders sought a clarification on whether Mr. Revanth Reddy had taken the permission of party president N. Chandrababu Naidu before making public his overtures towards the Congress. Mr. Revanth Reddy, however, was learnt to have explained to them the imminent political realignment in the State as it would be a fight between the forces for and against the policies of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in the next elections.
Mr. Revanth Reddy was learnt to have reiterated his stance against having any truck with the TRS as the ruling party had encouraged large-scale defections from the TDP-TS besides foisting cases against its leaders, including him. He was reported to have recalled the statements made by senior leaders in favour of joining hands with the TRS in the next elections claiming that such a tie-up would help the party revive its sagging fortunes in Telangana and wanted to know whether they obtained Mr. Naidu’s consent for making such claims.
The TDP-TS working president was learnt to have told the leaders that he would take up the issue with Mr. Chandrababu Naidu on his return from abroad. The meeting ended abruptly as the leaders who were not satisfied with Mr. Revanth Reddy’s argument in support of joining hands with political parties that were against the TRS staged a walkout.
