The party is likely to carry out the Karnataka model of making specific promises that would be implemented when the party comes to power.
Published Jul 19, 2023 | 8:14 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 25, 2023 | 8:42 AM
Top Telangana Congress leaders met at Venkat Reddy's residence on 19 July. (Supplied)
Senior leaders of the Telangana Congress, who met at Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkata Reddy’s residence
in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 19 July, decided to set aside differences between them and work together to bring the Congress back to power in the state.
The meeting, which lasted for over four hours, saw discussions about strategies that are required for the party to stage a comeback in the state. They are also understood to have decided to implement the party’s Karnataka model to win the election — making specific promises that would be implemented as soon as the party comes to power.
The senior leaders who attended the meeting included Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy, leaders Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, and SA Sampath Kumar.
The leaders also decided to take out a bus yatra soon. “Only 100 days are left for the final showdown. We will take out a bus yatra to reach the people,” Venkat Reddy said, while interacting with the media after the meeting.
The senior leaders have agreed to set aside their differences for the party. (Supplied)
Venkata Reddy said the issues that came up for discussion included the identification of problems the people were facing, the visit of the top party leaders to the state, and the promises to be made to the public on the eve of the elections.
He also announced that party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will address a huge public meeting on 30 July at Kollapur in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district, where she would release the Women’s Declaration. The meeting will mark the admission of former minister Jupally Krishna Rao into the Congress fold. “The idea is that in this electoral battle, people should win,” Venkat Reddy said.
The leaders decided to call the meeting of the Political Affairs Committee to chalk out finer details of the programmes that the party intends to take up to rouse the people’s opinion in favour of the Congress.
According to sources, the senior leaders felt that if they continue to differ on even trivial issues, it may do a lot of harm to the party’s image. They felt that it was necessary that they should let bygones be bygones and strengthen the effort to make the party emerge victorious in the Assembly elections. They felt that the situation was very conducive for the Congress to emerge as a powerful contender for power, unlike in the last elections.
The leaders, according to sources, felt that the secret to success was betting on the right horses who have acceptability among the people. As several leaders from the BRS were showing interest in joining the Congress, it was time to make the hay while the sun still shines by triggering more defections from the other parties.
Revanth Reddy, Venkata Reddy, and Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at the meeting. (Supplied)
As it is widely felt that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s announcement that all the sitting MLAs would be considered for allotment of tickets would leave aspirants in the constituencies concerned high and dry, the Congress should broadcast its net wide to land as many fish as possible.
The leaders went over the list of leaders who are interested in joining the Congress. They include BRS leader and former mayor and former MLA from Maheshwaram Teegala Krishna Reddy as Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy, who is representing Maheshwaram, might get the BRS ticket.
There are also several disgruntled leaders who are looking at the Congress. They include MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy, Gadwal ZP chairperson Saritha, Vikarabad ZP chairperson T Anitha Reddy, former MLA Vemula Veeresham, Enugu Ravinder Reddy — all BRS leaders — former MLC Kapilavai Dileep Kumar, former MLA Yennam Srinivas Reddy — both from the BJP — and businessman Sunil Reddy.
Training his gun on KCR, Venkata Reddy said that there was a police raj in Telangana and that the state government had usurped the lands of the farmers using the Dharani portal as a tool. Except for KCR’s family, no one had benefitted in Telangana.
He dared KCR to announce that he would make a leader from the Backward Community (BC) the next chief minister of the state. He iterated that it is only the Congress that cared for the BCs.
Venkata Reddy said he had called the BRS’s bluff of 24-hour power supply by proving that the supply was not more than eight hours with the help of a logbook at an electric substation.
He said that the task before them was to free the state from the clutches of KCR, who had turned into a dictator. The schemes, including Dalit Bandhu and BC Bandhu, were intended to help the MLAs make money, he said.
