Telangana Cong MP finally meets state party chief

Hyderabad: In a development which brought some cheers to Congress cadres in Telangana, party MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy on Saturday shared dais with party’s state president A. Revanth Reddy.

The MP from Bhongir, who has been staying away from party activities ever since Revanth Reddy was appointed state party president in June, was seen sitting next to him during the party’s protest in Hyderabad over paddy procurement issue.

The two leaders exchanged pleasantries and had a chat, much to the delight of senior party leaders present at Dharna Chowk, where two-day ‘deeksha’ began on Saturday demanding the state government to expedite paddy procurement from farmers.

Venkat Reddy, who was a strong contender for the post of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), had openly criticised the appointment of Revanth Reddy. The central leadership of the party had ignored many seniors to appoint Revanth Reddy, a former leader of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who had joined Congress party in 2017.

The Lok Sabha member from Bhongir had vowed not to step into state party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan and had alleged that the post of TPCC chief was sold by a central leader of the party. He, however, refrained from criticising party president Sonia Gandhi calling himself a Gandhi loyalist.

The state Congress leaders hope that Venkat Reddy becoming active in party will help strengthen the organisation at a time when it is trying to take on ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) by leading protests over people’s issues.

Addressing the protest programme, Revanth Reddy slammed both TRS and BJP saying they were cheating farmers.

The TPCC chief said the Congress party would continue its protest till the state government comes forward to procure the entire paddy.