Beleaguered Congress party in Telangana, yet to recover from the two straight drubbings in Assembly by-elections, faced further embarrassment as senior party legislator Komatireddy Venkat Reddy launched a vitriolic attack on PCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and other seniors.
Mr. Komatireddy’s outburst comes at a time when there is widespread speculation that the Congress legislator representing Nalgonda Assembly constituency was getting closer to the TRS. His open support and praise of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao after the latter’s ‘impressive’ audio visual presentation on the floor of the Assembly during the budget session on irrigation projects and now bitter criticism of the State Congress leadership raised eye brows about his moves.
Strengthening the doubts of the Congress leadership, Mr. Komatireddy drove down to the residence of Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday morning and held discussions.
Later, he came to the Congress Legislature Party office and addressed a press conference.
Claiming that his meeting with Mr. Harish Rao was only to greet him on his birthday, Mr. Komatireddy said he had discussed about the irrigation projects in Nalgonda.
‘Weakest PCC chief’
But, during the course of the press conference, he went all out against the Telangana Congress leadership.
He termed Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy as the weakest PCC chief in the last 60 years. He said the party had appointed people like Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Uttam Kumar Reddy as the State party chiefs when they had nothing to do with the separate Telangana movement.
“If the party high command had recognised those who had strived for separate statehood and entrusted the PCC chief’s post, the situation would have been totally different. Mr. Uttam has to take the blame for party’s worst performance in Narayankhed and Palair Assembly bye-polls,” he said.
‘Time for introspection’
Stating that he was pained at the deterioration of the party’s image since the bifurcation of the State, Mr. Komatireddy said the central leadership should urgently do introspection to bring the party’s fortune back on rails.
Talking to The Hindu later, Mr. Komatireddy said he would meet the central leadership and apprise them of the ground situation in Telangana.
“Can’t inspire cadres”
“PCC chief Uttam and working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and others can not inspire the party cadres. Their presence in the party will be counter productive,” he said and maintained that he was willing to accept the PCC chief’s post if the high command desired so.
Reacting to the Nalgonda Congress leader’s outburst, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Mallu Ravi said Komatireddy was not exempt from party discipline. Faulting his remarks on the PCC chief and others, Mr. Ravi said it would only damage the image of the party.
