Former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief and former Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has tendered his resignation to the Congress protesting the ‘humiliation’ being meted out to seniors in the party in selection of candidates for the Telangana Assembly Elections 2023.
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Capping the unrest among a section of senior BC leaders, who are angered at the manner in which names of certain veterans have been kept on hold ostensibly based on a survey carried out by the poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, the first TPCC chief of Telangana State sent his two-page resignation letter to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge.
The trigger for the resignation is said to be issue of ticket allotment. The former PCC chief, who is aspirant for Jangaon Assembly ticket is said to be upset that a section of the party seniors were trying to pitch hard for the candidature of Kommuri Pratap Reddy, Jangaon DCC chief.
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The content of the resignation letter is likely to cause embarrassment to the Congress party ahead of the announcement of list of candidates in next two days. Mr. Lakshmaiah targetted the TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy and poll strategist Kanugolu Sunil for his decision.
Mr. Lakshmaiah expressed serious anguish at the state of affairs in the State unit and how the backward classes are being humiliated in ticket selection. Claiming that he had served the party for last 40 years without any personal interest, the former TPCC chief said the happenings in the last two years had pained him a lot.
He said without going into the service rendered by seniors, a concerted effort is being made to tarnish the image of the leaders and also show the BC leaders in poor light and belittling their self respect. “The surveys conducted by the poll strategist says the BC leaders will lose the elections. This is very much against the spirit of Udaipur Declaration. Why are the BC leaders being targeted,” he questioned in the letter.
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The former Minister went to the extent of alleging that money bags were used to buy tickets and deny to those who stuck to party even in the worst of times. “I have never done anything wrong in my career and I was made scapegoat for the party debacle in 2014 elections. But, the same yardstick was not followed after the 2018 elections and the then incumbent PCC chief was not penalised but in fact rewarded with posts,” he lamented.
The veteran Congress leader was a Minister in the Congress Government under late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, K. Rosaiah and N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Governments.
Responding to the resignation, TPCC Working President B. Mahesh Kumar Goud said that they were trying to contact Mr. Lakshmaiah and request him to reconsider his decision.