HYDERABAD: Cautioning the Congress cadre and leaders against complacency and overconfidence during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan on Sunday warned that “lack of vigilance could put the party at risk”.
Addressing the party leaders during a training programme on SIR-2 held at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, Natarajan said that a few Congress workers were under the impression that the party had been performing better than the BJP and BRS in the electoral exercise.
“Some of our workers are overconfident and believe that we are doing better than the BJP and BRS. But the work that the BJP and BRS are supposed to do is being carried out by the Election Commission,” she said.
The AICC in-charge urged the Congress cadre to stay alert and ensure that no genuine votes, particularly those belonging to Congress supporters, were deleted from the electoral rolls. “We believe in democracy. We are ensuring that even the votes of our opponents are not deleted. But the BJP and BRS are trying to get our votes deleted. We have to be extremely careful and ensure that our votes are not removed,” she said.
Referring to developments in West Bengal, Natarajan claimed that the BJP had benefited from a similar strategy there and warned the Congress workers that complacency could prove costly. “If we are not alert, we will land in trouble,” she cautioned, asking party leaders and workers to closely monitor the SIR process at the grassroots level.
Feedback on governance, party’s performance
Meanwhile, District Congress Committee Political Affairs Committee meetings began at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday under the leadership of Meenakshi Natarajan. The PAC meetings were held for Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Khairatabad, Vikarabad, Rangareddy and Medchal districts.
During the meetings, Natarajan sought feedback from district leaders on the functioning of the party and government, as well as the public response to various government schemes.
The leaders told the party in-charge that people were generally happy with the implementation of the government’s welfare schemes. However, several leaders raised concerns over the functioning of officials, alleging that bureaucrats were not extending adequate cooperation to elected representatives and party leaders.
The issue of the Congress’ stand on the AIMIM in the Greater Hyderabad region also came up for discussion during the meetings. Minority community leaders, including Feroz Khan, reportedly sought clarity from the leadership on this issue. Feroz Khan reportedly told the meeting that in areas where AIMIM has a presence, officials were extending greater cooperation to that party than to Congress leaders, and urged the party leadership to address the issue.
