Though the murder has reportedly been committed over a long-standing rivalry, it took a political hue after Jeevan Reddy shot off a letter to party national leadership, condemning the state unit encouraging defections.
Published Oct 28, 2024 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 28, 2024 | 5:08 PM
Congress MLC Jeevan Reddy has been against the Congress welcoming Sanjay Kumar to the party fold.
The murder of Maru Ganga Reddy in North Telangala’s Jagtial has exposed the fissures in the Congress, especially over the party wooing Opposition BRS leaders to its camp.
Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy’s confidant Ganga Reddy, 56, was stabbed to death allegedly by Bathni Santosh, a follower of MLA M Sanjay Kumar, who joined the party from the BRS on 23 June this year.
Though the murder has reportedly been committed over a tiff between the two men, it took a political hue after Jeevan Reddy shot off a letter to party boss Rahul Gandhi, with copies sent to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary in charge of organisation affairs KC Venugopal on 25 October.
According to the police, murder accused Santosh believed that his uncle, with whom he had been locked in a feud, had Ganga Reddy’s backing. He also felt that Ganga Reddy was behind a case registered against him under the SC and ST (Prevention) Atrocities Act.
In his letter to the Congress top brass, Jeevan Reddy sought guidance for his future activities in the party and highlighted that the slain Ganga Reddy had been standing by the organisation for the past four decades. The reference to Ganga Reddy’s loyalty has been viewed as the MLC’s effort to contrast it with Sanjay Kumar’s recent lateral entry into the party.
The letter set tongues wagging with many interpreting the message as a veiled threat that the party might lose Jeevan Reddy if it did not act against the state unit admitting defectors at the cost of loyal workers. The Congress has long been adopting an anti-defection stand at the national level.
“Our party in the state appears to follow the same discredited anti-people, unpopular and decadent policies of the former KCR government in promoting and encouraging defections, leading to a loss of faith of the people in democracy,” Jeevan Reddy wrote in the letter.
On the Congress admitting Kumar, Jeevan Reddy said it had not gone down well with him or the party workers in the district. The MLC added that he had even considered quitting the party after Kumar was accorded a welcome.
Jeevan Reddy recalled Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Minister D Sridhar Babu informing the high command of the agony he had been going through and his opposition to engineering defections.
The MLC said another development that had hurt him was the chief minister’s assurance to the defected BRS MLAs that the government would extend full support to them.
The BRS MLAs who joined the Congress were led by former Assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, the leader considered responsible for denying Vikramarka the post of Opposition leader in the Assembly when the BRS was in power.
Immediately after Ganga Reddy’s daylight murder, Jeevan Reddy staged a protest with his supporters on Jagtial -Dharmapuri Road. He decried the murder of his follower, who he had considered a brother. He deplored the lack of security for Congress workers, despite the party ruling the state.
Recently, he questioned Revanth Reddy’s policy of engineering defections. “Can’t we run the state without admitting BRS MLAs,” he had asked.
The MLC alleged that Banswada BRS MLA Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy, who joined the Congress, was the leader of the BRS group in the Congress. He also accused the Congress state leadership of filling nominated posts with the BRS leaders in the guise of strengthening the party. He felt it did not augur well for the party, and said the workers must be rewarded for sticking with it during hard times.
An alarmed PCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud spoke to Jeevan Reddy and tried to pacify him. Later, speaking to reporters, Goud said the trouble in Jagtial arose from admitting a BRS MLA into the party and added that the party would resolve the issue soon.
Kumar has been an apple of discord ever since he was admitted to the Congress. The discord aggravated after Ganga Reddy’s murder. Now, Jeevan Reddy has been contemplating whether he should continue in the party.
Interestingly, BRS working president KT Rama Rao has begun addressing the MLC as Jeevan Reddy Garu after he revolted against the Congress leadership in the state.
Speaking to media persons recently, KTR called Kumar “politically immoral” as he had won the Assembly election on the BRS ticket and joined the Congress later.
He said it was strange how Congress cadres killed their leaders, implying that he no longer considers Kumar a BRS leader.
Kumar defeated Jeevan Reddy in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections from Jagtial. Jeevan Reddy had been dreading the prospect of Kumar joining the Congress ever since Revanth Reddy went hunting for BRS MLAs to ensure stability to the government, which has a wafer-thin majority in the Assembly.
Revanth Reddy had successfully landed 10 BRS MLAs in the Congress camp.
With the Jagtial development, it remains to be seen if the momentum in wooing BRS leaders will stop, especially since the Congress leadership is against defections.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
