HYDERABAD: The AICC has already given a preliminary green signal to the Telangana Congress disciplinary committee’s recommendations against Endowments Minister Konda Surekha and Planning Board Vice-Chairman G Chinna Reddy, according to a senior party leader, with the matter now awaiting the high command’s formal decision.
The indication that the recommendations have received approval at the AICC level has shifted attention within the party from the state disciplinary mechanism to when, rather than whether, the high command will formally act on the report.
A senior leader who had earlier served as an AICC secretary said such recommendations would generally not be made without the matter having been discussed at the AICC level. He said the report had already reached the party headquarters and that there was a preliminary green signal for the action proposed against the two leaders.
The final decision, however, rests with the high command.
The recommendations, if approved, are expected to send a message to other dissident leaders who have repeatedly made public remarks against their own government and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
What makes the recommendations politically interesting is that both leaders are considered to have close links with the state leadership. Chinna Reddy, in particular, is a long-time associate of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
The chief minister has himself spoken publicly about having worked with Chinna Reddy in Wanaparthy since his childhood.
Will leadership accept panel’s suggestion to sack the duo?
Party leaders say the decision could establish that organisational discipline will take precedence over personal equations. The message, as one senior leader put it, would be that the party comes first, while friends, associates and others come next.
State Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud has also maintained that leaders, irrespective of their community or political background, would have to face consequences if they make derogatory remarks against the chief minister or the party.
His position has added weight to the argument that the disciplinary process cannot be viewed through the prism of individual leaders or communities.
With the AICC having already indicated its position, the larger question in the state unit is now how the high command will formally dispose of the recommendations and what form the action will take.
Party leaders believe that accepting the report would reinforce the authority of the state disciplinary mechanism and establish that public criticism of the state leadership can have organisational consequences.
Conversely, any rejection or dilution of the recommendations, despite the preliminary clearance at the AICC level, could open another political discussion: why was action not taken when leaders publicly criticised the chief minister and the party, and what precedent would that establish for MLAs, MLCs, MPs and ministers who have backed the state leadership in such disputes?
The issue has consequently acquired a dimension beyond the two leaders named in the report.
Congress leaders are watching whether the high command will stand by the state disciplinary mechanism and, in doing so, draw a line on public dissent.
Decision may have a bearing on Cabinet reshuffle
The decision could also have a bearing on discussions over a possible Cabinet reshuffle. Those conversations have already begun among ruling Congress MLAs and MLCs, with some leaders linking the timing and scope of any reshuffle to the AICC’s decision on the disciplinary report.
For now, the indications from the party headquarters suggest that the recommendations are unlikely to be set aside. What remains is the formal decision and the extent of action against the two leaders.
In politics, one decision often settles one question while opening another. The Congress high command’s next move could therefore have consequences beyond the two names currently before it.
