HYDERABAD: In yet another blow to the beleaguered Congress ahead of the impending Munugode bye-election, two more senior party leaders Marri Shashidhar Reddy and Aleti Maheshwar Reddy on Wednesday expressed their unhappiness over the style of functioning of TPCC president A Revanth Reddy and AICC Telangana in-charge Manickam Tagore.
Defying the party commandment not to express dissent in public, the two leader who have been unhappy for quite a long time, opened up before the media. Criticising his own party leaders, Shashidhar Reddy - a former four-time MLA and the son of former Congress chief minister Marri Chenna Reddy - while speaking to media persons at his residence, said that the ‘current situation’ in the Congress was due to those leading the party. He went on to say that even Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was speaking what Revanth and Tagore were suggesting.
“Being the TPCC chief, Revanth has been doing things that are damaging the party, and Manickam Tagore has been acting as an agent for him. Listening to them, Rahul Gandhi in a meeting asked the seniors either to continue or leave the party,” Shashidhar Reddy said. When asked about continuing in the party, he said without elaborating that he was very perturbed with Revanth’s remarks equating seniors to “home guards”.
On the other hand, immediately after walking out of a meeting chaired by Tagore, AICC programme implementation committee chairman Maheshwar Reddy told some reporters that he would “resign”. He is learnt to have been reprimanded for not sending party activity details to Delhi by Tagore. Maheshwar Reddy took exception to this and expressed his dissatisfaction to the media. However, he clarified that he would continue in Congress.
Responding to allegations levelled against him, Tagore said, “I have not seen the comment. I am a representative of Sonia Gandhi ji, and I represent her here. There will be grievances from those who couldn’t be accommodated and the party will look into their concerns.”