Internal bickering rocks Congress in Telangana

Hyderabad, Aug 18 (IANS) There seems to be no end to the internal bickering in the Congress in Telangana as another leader complained to the Central leadership over the style of functioning of party in-charge Manickam Tagore.

A day after senior leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy termed Tagore an agent of state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy, AICC programmes implementation committee chairman A. Maheshwar Reddy dashed off a letter to the high command alleging that Tagore insulted him.

Maheshwar Reddy alleged that during a preparatory meeting on Wednesday, Tagore insulted him in front of all the leaders.

He wrote that he was hurt over Tagore's allegation that he has not been working for the last one year.

During the meeting Maheshwar Reddy expressed unhappiness over the way he was being ignored and the way important communication was not being shared. He walked out of the meeting after Tagore reportedly reprimanded him for not sending details of the party activity to Delhi.

Maheshwar Reddy openly expressed his unhappiness and on Thursday he sent a letter to the central leadership.

This came hours after Shashidhar Reddy launched an open attack on Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Revanth Reddy and Tagore.

Defying the party commandment not to express dissent in public, he blamed the two leaders for the current chaos in the party.

Shashidhar Reddy, a former minister and the son of former Congress Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, alleged that Tagore had become an agent of Revanth Reddy and that both the leaders were sending false reports to the central leadership.

He remarked that even Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was speaking what Revanth and Tagore were suggesting.

Shashidhar Reddy took exception to Revanth's remarks equating senior leaders to 'home guards'.

The senior leader, however, evaded questions if he would quit the party. Maheshwar Reddy, however, denied that he was planning to resign and clarified that he would remain in the party.

Meanwhile, Telangana congress spokesman Addanki Dayakar slammed Shashidhar Reddy for openly criticizing Revanth Reddy and Manickam Tagore.

Dayakar said the remarks made by Shashidhar Reddy were unbecoming of a senior leader. He said if any leader has any grievance, there are committees of AICC and PCC to address the same.

Dayakar also remarked that such comments from seniors send a signal that the Congress is falling in the trap of BJP and RSS.

In more embarrassment for the party, internal differences within the party in Jadcherla constituency came to fore on Thursday. Constituency in-charge Anirudh Reddy has expressed unhappiness over the current situation in the party.

Anirudh Reddy sent a letter to Tagore complaining that former MLA Yerra Chandrasekhar is creating problems for him. He made it clear that he will not share dais with Chandrasekhar, who is an accused in nine murder cases.

Meanwhile, Shashidhar Reddy and MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy have sought an appointment with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi to brief her on the current state of affairs in the party's state unit.

The development came amid reports that Venkat Reddy is also planning to quit the Congress party like his brother Rajagopal Reddy, who recently resigned from the party and Assembly.

Rajagopal Reddy has announced the decision to join the BJP and will be contesting the by-election as the candidate of the saffron party.