Crisis in T’gana Congress, Digvijaya Singh meeting dissidents

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday started meeting the dissident leaders of Telangana unit of the party in an attempt to find an amicable solution to the crisis that has gripped the party for the last few days.

The trouble shooter who was rushed to Hyderabad by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), was meeting leaders individually at Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).

Singh will continue meeting the leaders till Thursday night to know their views about the developments of the last few days. Party sources said based on these inputs he will submit a report to the high command.

Veteran leader and former MP V. Hanumantha Rao was the first to meet Digvijaya Singh. Each leader was being given 10-15 minutes to convey his views.

The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh preferred meeting leaders individually as it was felt that a common meeting with all may result in chaos and not serve the purpose of finding a solution to the crisis.

He will hear the dissident leaders on the reservations they have over recently reconstituted party panels.

As some leaders in the party have been facing allegations of acting as coverts by working for other parties, Digvijaya Singh is also likely to focus on this issue. A section of leaders is also irked over a campaign being run against them on social media.

Besides knowing the mind of various leaders, Singh is also believed to be seeking their advise on how to strengthen the party in the run up to the next year’s elections.

Crisis gripped the party after a group of dissident leaders held a meeting on December 17 and voiced their unhappiness over packing up the party panels with the leaders who came to Congress from other parties.

In what is seen as an open revolt against TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, who himself joined Congress after resigning from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2017, the group decided to launch save Congress movement in the state. They termed it a fight between real Congress and the migrants from other parties.

The dissidents include Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and former TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The crisis deepened a day later when 13 leaders, considered loyal to Revanth Reddy, decided to quit party posts. A couple of leaders, who were unhappy over not being inducted in the panels, also resigned.

The dissident group had called a meeting on December 20 to decide the future course of action. However, the high command intervened to stop the group from holding the meeting.

Digvijaya Singh telephoned former MLA Maheshwar Reddy and asked him to cancel the meeting. The central leader told him that if there are any issues, they will be sorted out by the central leadership through talks.