Digvijaya Singh gets to work: Congress trouble-shooter in talks with Telangana factions

The permanent gadfly in the Telangana Congress — Komatireddy Venkat Reddy — who has been served a notice by the party for campaigning for his brother Rajagopal Reddy, the former Congressman-turned-BJP nominee in the recent by-election in Munugode, was among those who conferred with the AICC leader.

He reportedly gave an account of how a conscious effort was underway to defame and marginalise him in the party.

Talking to both factions

The AICC emissary is understood to have given a patient hearing to him, though it is as clear as daylight that both Revanth Reddy and Venkat Reddy do not see eye to eye and whatever one says against the other may not be taken as the absolute truth.

Digvijaya Singh is expected to have wide-ranging talks with the dissident leaders (read “natives”) and Revanth Reddy’s loyalists (the “migrants”) on Thursday in an attempt to identify and remove the irritants that sparked by the recent paroxysm in the party.

Though the embers have been burning for a while now, the immediate provocation for the “natives” to rebel against Revanth Reddy was their being ignored in the constitution of various committees of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).

Related: Month after Bharat Jodo Yatra, Telangana Congress is in shambles

They were also miffed by the posting of the social media content that sought to belittle and denigrate them.

When the police raided the party’s war-room run by party strategist Sunil Kanugolu recently, the seniors too criticised the state government. But they soon realised that his team was also posting abusive content about them.

Former Congress state president and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy had said that he came to know about this when Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand told him about it when he sought action against the policemen for raiding the office.

The Revanth Reddy faction hit back in a novel way, with 13 of the newly-appointed members of the committees quitting their posts, saying that they were not hankering after positions — implying that it was the “natives” who were more concerned about party sinecures than them.

Patch-up not easy

The seniors were riled over the fact that even after they rebelled against the discrimination, there was no attempt by Revanth Reddy to pacify them, but, rubbing salt into injury, the TPCC president had his men resign in retaliation, suggesting he wanted confrontation and not conciliation.

According to sources, Digvijay Singh’s brief was to see that the Congress is back in shape and united by the time the elections arrive. The Congress knows very well that if its performance remains as disastrous as it has been in the by-elections held so far, there will be no future for the party.

In fact, in south Telangana districts, the Congress has some chances of springing back to life.

In Warangal, Khammam, Nalgonda, and in Mahabubnagar to some extent, where the BJP is virtually non-existent, the Congress can hope to make smart gains in the wake of the anti-incumbency burden that the BRS is bearing on its shoulders.

But bringing the two factions in the TPCC together is easier said than done, given the adamant stands they have taken against each other. If the situation persists, the party’s prospects would continue on a downward spiral, something Digiviyaj Singh would be seeking to avoid.