HYDERABAD: Efforts by the AICC and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy appear to have paid off, with the party avoiding a near-crisis involving MLC T Jeevan Reddy following the entry of BRS MLA Sanjay Kumar into the Congress.
Sanjay Kumar’s decision to switch loyalties to the Congress from the BRS had left the MLC fuming and it appeared a rebellion was on the horizon.
Congress sources said that the party has mollified Jeevan Reddy by assuring him that he would be appointed chairman of the Rythu Bharosa Commission or the Rythu Welfare Commission in the coming days. A senior minister revealed that the party has also assured Jeevan Reddy that he would be renominated to the Legislative Council after his term under the graduates quota ends in March 2025. The Congress is expected to send him to the Council by way of the MLAs quota in the elections set for February 2025, when five MLC positions will be vacated.
Following the entry of Sanjay Kumar into the Congress, Jeevan Reddy had threatened that he would quit politics. However, senior leaders and ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu, raised the issue with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal.
Following consultations, Venugopal communicated with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, as well as AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi, to pacify Jeevan Reddy. The high command then invited Jeevan Reddy to Delhi, where he met Venugopal, Revanth Reddy, Deepa Dasmunshi and Sridhar Babu.
Sources said that Vikramarka and Sridhar Babu took a personal interest in resolving the issue, ensuring the senior leader was mollified.
Meanwhile, discussions in Congress regarding the next Assembly elections are getting interesting. A key question is whether the ticket for the Jagtial seat will go to Sanjay Kumar, the sitting MLA, or Jeevan Reddy, who lost elections in 2018 and 2023 and the Lok Sabha election in 2024. This would present a challenge for the AICC in ticket allocation for the next Assembly elections.