Infighting now in Telangana Cong after Punjab & Rajasthan; ex-MP seeks state chief change

Stirring yet another infighting in Congress, former Rajya Sabha MP  V Hanumantha Rao has written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, seeking a new state unit chief. Rao claims that unlike Punjab, Kerala, and Karnataka, the party High Command has not appointed a party observer to verify the claims of Telangana Congress chief Manickam Tagore. Urging the High Command to observe a similar policy in Telangana, Rao argued that this was necessary to elicit the opinions of all senior Telangana Congress leaders before appointing a new state unit chief.

Ex-MP seeks change in guard

The former parliamentarian further pointed that the replacement must be well thought out as a blunder may cost the party in the long run. To buttress his point, he pointed out that 12 TDP leaders who had joined Congress, won an MLA seat have already jumped ship, stating that there is no guarantee that other party imports will stay in the Congress. He concluded stating that his suggestion was made keeping the 2024 General elections in mind. 

Recently, Rao had written to Tagore seeking a core-committee meeting or a review meeting with other party seniors. "Our party lost in the 2018 assembly elections. Then in Greater Hyderabad Municipal corporation (GHMC), Congress was able to wave its flag in only three municipal divisions. Later, the party faced defeat in Dubbak by-elections and Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly by-elections," wrote Rao. He argued that if a new core committee is formed then Congress can work on winning the 2023 state assembly elections, pointing out that both BJP and TRS are reworking their strategies.

Infighting in Congress

The grand old party has been facing in fighting on several fronts and remains rudderless at the top, postponing its party chief elections time and again. In Punjab, incumbent CM Capt Amarinder Singh has been hauled in front of a 3-committee panel over rebel MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu's grouse against the CM. While Congress has stated that Singh will remain the party's CM pick in 2022, it has refused to take action against Sidhu, mulling to reward him with a Deputy CM post.

Similarly in Rajasthan, ex-Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and his supporters have cried afoul that while Sidhu's complaints have been addressed immediately, the Tonk MLA has been sidelined and his issues have not been taken up. Pilot has indicated that a divide in the party is imminent if no solution is found within a month's time, sources revealed. Pilot, who is in Delhi, is set to meet UP Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later in the day.