Former minister Jupalli Krishna Rao was to be inducted into the Congress at the event, formally christened the "Palamuru Garjana".
Published Jul 27, 2023 | 11:46 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 27, 2023 | 11:48 PM
Jupalli Krishna Rao has been insisting that either Priyanka or Rahul Gandhi should induct him into the Congress. (Wikimedia Commons)
Torrential rains have forced the Congress to cancel its Palamuru Garjana, a mega meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, 30 July, in Kollapur in the Nagarkurnool district of Telangana.
The event was to be attended by AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
Gandhi was to address the meeting after inducting former minister Jupalli Krishna Rao into the party.
Krishna Rao said the Palamuru Garjana would take place after the rains abated. The Congress high command would decide on a fresh date, he added.
Along with him, a number of his followers — mostly from the BRS, which is in power in Telangana — would join the Congress whenever the meeting takes place.
A team from Delhi that visited the state decided that it was not wise to go ahead with the event as the weather department had forecast heavy rains for the next couple of days.
Accordingly, Gandhi postponed her trip to Mahabubnagar.
This is the second time that Gandhi’s visit to Kollapur has been postponed.
She was to visit Kollapur on 20 July, but it was put off at the eleventh hour because the party’s top brass was busy making arrangements for the Opposition parties’ conclave in Bengaluru, and a forecast of heavy rain.
With Krishna Rao insisting that either Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi should admit him into the Congress, his official entry into the party from the BRS is being delayed further.
With the cancellation of the 30 July programme, it is not clear when Priyanka Gandhi could fly down to Mahabubnagar.
Krishna Rao wanted a big bang entry into the Congress and had even made preparations for a huge public meeting to demonstrate his strength to the BRS which, according to him, had hounded him out of the party.
But at the ground level, even before Krishna Rao joined the party, there were rumblings over the Kollapur ticket going to Krishna Rao.
Local leaders are pressuring the party to admit him without promising a Kollapur ticket since Congress leader Ch Jagadeeswara Rao has been expecting the party’s nomination.
Jagadeeswara Rao, to make the party understand how much he deserves the party ticket, organised a procession recently and did not hesitate to inform the party’s senior vice-president, Mallu Ravi, that he should be considered for the Kollapur seat.
Former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who was also present at the meeting, backed Jagadeeswara Rao, arguing that the party should take into consideration the aspirations of party leaders instead of giving preference to those who shifted camps at the last moment.
Though Ravi tried to convince them that tickets were decided based on survey reports, his argument did not cut much ice with either Jagadeeswara Rao or Janardhan Reddy.
Janardhan Reddy, who wants to contest from Nagarkurnool, suspects that Krishna Rao might seek the ticket for the seat for his follower.
The two leaders had made it clear to the party’s state leadership that if Kollapur went to Krishna Rao, he could expect no support from Jagadeeswara Rao.
Janardhan Reddy also clarified that he would take it seriously if Krishna Rao’s supporter is preferred for Nagarkurnool.
The important leaders who would join the Congress whenever the Palamuru Garjana takes place include BRS MLC Kuchukulla Damodar Reddy and his son Rajesh Reddy.
