AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday made open her displeasure against the style of functioning of certain top leaders of the State party and said if they did not put up a united face, it was as good as giving chance for the BJP to consolidate its position in Telangana.
In a pleasant surprise to State party leaders, Ms Priyanka Gandhi met TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, party Campaign Committee Chairman and former MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud, former deputy CM Damodar Raj Narasimha, MLA D. Sridhar Babu and MLC T. Jeevan Reddy individually for 10 minutes each. Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who was in New Delhi, did not attend the meeting.
Highly placed sources said all the leaders in the run-up to the byelection to the Munugode Assembly constituency in the aftermath of resignation of MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy and his joining the BJP on Sunday gave their views on the state of affairs and expressed serious concern over the infighting.
Unilateral actions decried
It was understood that party seniors, who interacted with Ms. Priyanka Gandhi, pointed out how unilateral actions of some State and AICC leaders were causing discomfiture. One leader was said to have targeted the State party chief and the AICC in-charge for their “unilateral” decisions and failing to take all the leaders along.
After her individual meetings, Ms. Priyanka Gandhi along with AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal and Mr Manickam Tagore met all the leaders together.
It was believed that Ms. Priyanka Gandhi said she was always available to State Congress leaders for consultations. But, she made it known in no uncertain terms that criticism of individual leaders and issuing statements deriding own party leaders would not be tolerated. She referred to some intemperate remarks made at the Chandur public meeting of the party earlier this month.
She said there were bound to be infighting and differences but the AICC representative had the responsibility to resolve the issues by taking everyone into confidence. Her remarks, a senior leader said, were aimed at Mr. Manickam Tagore, who had of late drawn flak from some party men for his actions.
The AICC general secretary said it was the future of the State Congress leaders at stake and she was only available to help the party regain its strength.
The AICC leadership asked Mr. Madhu Yaskhi, Damodar Raj Narasimha, Uttam Kumar Reddy and Mr. Jana Reddy to hold discussions with Mr. Venkat Reddy. Mr. Venugopal was also asked to hold another round of meeting with State leaders to arrive at a consensus and finalise candidate for Munugode.
The party was learnt to have asked poll strategist Sunil Konagolu to come out with an attractive strategy for the Munugode byelection.
