Published Mar 20, 2026 | 4:03 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 20, 2026 | 4:45 PM
These appointments took place just a couple of days after a committee was constituted for coordination between the government and the party.
Synopsis: What has also raised hackles was the inclusion of minister Seethakka in the co-ordination committee. She figures in the list of politicians who joined the Congress from TDP, while the Cabinet has many others who spent decades in the party. Joining the Congress from the TDP or the BRS was “the main qualification” to get a position in the government, a fuming minister quipped in a private chat.
Amid growing discontent, the old guard in the ruling Congress in Telangana are now rebranding the party as “Telugu Congress”.
Multiple reasons are being cited for the discomfort among longstanding Congressmen, the primary being the manner in which those who shifted loyalties to the party before the Assembly elections are being rewarded at the expense of leaders who stood by it through thick and thin.
The other reason, no less important, is the way appointments are being announced without due process or consultations, either within the Cabinet or with party leadership at the state level.
The latest example is the appointment of whips for the Assembly. The three who were named—Vemula Veeresham, Vijaya Ramana Rao and Yennam Sreenivas Reddy—joined the Congress from either the TDP, BJP or the BRS. There was no information shared with senior ministers or the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee before the official notification was issued.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is understood to have justified the appointments on the ground that only second-term MLAs were considered. But earlier decisions on similar Assembly posts do not support this. First-term MLAs were considered before.
Curiously, these appointments took place just a couple of days after a committee was constituted for coordination between the government and the party.
Apart from the chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and PCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, the committee has senior ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and Damodar Raja Narasimha. Not one of them was apparently briefed about the choices for the positions of government whips.
What has also raised hackles was the inclusion of minister Seethakka in the co-ordination committee. She figures in the list of politicians who joined the Congress from TDP, while the Cabinet has many others who spent decades in the Congress and were ministers before.
“The main qualification to get a position in this government is that one should have come either from the TDP, BJP or BRS,” a fuming minister quipped in a private chat. “Where is the party and its leadership? Does it have any role?” asked another minister.
That each is unto himself, reflecting a lack of cohesive functioning, came out yet again. At a recent meeting of the Congress Legislature Party ahead of the ongoing budget session, Revanth is understood to have advised ministers against indulging in casual “chats” with mediapersons.
Yet, just two days later, senior minister Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy did exactly the same. He remarked that if senior leader and former MLA Jagga Reddy were made the PCC president, the party would be in a far better position.
Was he implying a lack of faith in the incumbent, Mahesh Kumar Goud, a backward class leader? Soon, BC leaders belonging to the Congress called the minister’s remarks an affront to backward classes.
The manner in which the chief minister has also been singing paeans to the Union government led by the NDA on various occasions has left older Congressmen wondering about the purpose behind Revanth’s comments. The more recent example was the Chief Minister citing the sanction of the proposed high speed train from Hyderabad to various destinations.
Letter dated 17 March.
Letter dated 19 March.
What has also not gone unnoticed is another recent episode. According to a letter written by the finance department to the Secretary of the Legislative Council on 17 March, IT Minister D Sridhar Babu was to present the state budget in the Council on 20 March, while Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka would do so in the Assembly.
Two days later, on 19 March, the Council Secretary issued the list of business stating Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy would present the budget in the Council.
Sources close to Sridhar Babu said the minister withdrew from the budget presentation because of “back pain”. The real question, however, is whether it is back pain or an undescribed pain over the goings-on.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
