HYDERABAD: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy’s comments on the possibility of even Mulugu MLA Dansari Anasuya alias Seethakka becoming Telangana Chief Minister and small farmers do not need round-the-clock power supply kicked up a storm on Tuesday with the BRS using them as potent weapons to discredit the Congress.
Making the best use of the sensitive nature of the issue of round-the-clock free power supply to the farm sector, the BRS leaders went to town, painting the Congress as anti-farmer.
The senior Congress leaders are unhappy with Revanth for his comments at a time when they were preparing to vanquish the BRS in the Assembly elections later this year. They feel that he should not have spoken about the possibility of Seethakka becoming the chief minister, since it is the party’s high command which takes the call on who should become the CM after taking the opinions of the MLAs.
They pointed out that Revanth should have said that it is not in his hands as to who should become deputy chief minister or chief minister.
The party leaders are contemplating lodging a strong complaint with the party’s high command on the “irresponsible” comments.
Congress leaders worried
With the BRS taking Revanth’s comments on the power supply to agriculture pump-sets into the farming community, the Congress leaders are now worried over what kind of impact it would have on the prospects of the party.
The Congress leaders wonder why Revanth should make such comments that can spark controversy. If he wanted to make any comment on agriculture, he should have reiterated the party’s resolve to implement the promises made in the party’s farmers’ declaration released at the Warangal public meeting by party senior leader Rahul Gandhi in the past, they said.
Ever since Revanth made the comments, the BRS social media activists are working overtime, drawing a parallel between TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu who had said, when he was the chief minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, that agriculture was a useless avocation and now Revanth Reddy, who is his protege, was voicing his opinion that there was no need for round-the-clock power supply to the farm sector.
They wonder why the PCC chief should speak about the power supply issue as anything that is said casually on the subject would have a tremendous impact on farmers as his comments had now. Revanth may have wanted to explain the scam that took place in the power sector, but that point is lost in the din, they said.
'Seethakka for CM comment a joke'
Responding to TPCC chief Revanth Reddy’s statement that Adivasi MLA Dansari Anasuya ‘Seethakka’ from Mulugu will be considered for the Chief Minister’s post if required, Congress star campaigner Komatireddy Venkat Reddy categorically ruled out that possibility.
He advised his Lok Sabha colleague to focus on improving Congress seats from 45 to 65 or 75 in the coming elections. “It is a joke. If the party decides to give CM post to a tribal, we have three-time MLA Podem Veeraiah. If the party wants to give it to Dalits, we have Bhatti Vikramarka, Damodara Raja Narsimha and a host of other leaders,” he said.