The Congress party, both at the Centre and the state, has been facing an unprecedented crisis for the last couple of weeks, at a time when the party is celebrating its 125th anniversary. In the last few days, the party’s centre leadership virtually struggled to wriggle out of the crisis by making telecommunications minister A Raja resign in connection with the 2-G spectrum scandal.
Back home in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party, too, it was a testing time for Chief Minister K Rosaiah during the last week. Amidst reports that he might be replaced any time, the old man is struggling hard to establish his hold over the government and the party by extensively touring different parts of the state on some official programe or the other, besides addressing party workers on the occasion of party’s 125th year celebrations. He knows that the telecom scandal has only delayed the high command’s plan to decide his fate. So, he is trying to make the best use of the time by attending caste organisations’ meetings and organizing felicitation functions for himself.
At this stage, the reports carried by Sakshi television channel, promoted by Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy against party president Sonia Gandhi has given a fresh breather to Rosaiah. Apparently Jagan has decided to take the Congress high command by horns. Notwithstanding the strong defence put up by Sakshi management, it is pretty evident that the scurrilous report telecast by Sakshi, questioning the leadership of Sonia and her inability to lead the party to victory in several states and her silence on massive corruption and scandals in the UPA government was no doubt a direct attack on the high command. It is not known what exactly is in the mind of Jagan, but he knows pretty well that the report would force the high command to take action against him, which is what he wants.
And that is what it is happening right now. Right from the chief minister to all the senior Congress leaders, including those who were once die-hard loyalists of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and Jaganmohan Reddy, launched a scathing attack on the young MP. In a way, Jagan’s revolt would definitely help Rosaiah continue in power for some time, as the high command might not dare change the leadership in the present crisis.
In fact, after his sensational statement in Nellore that there would be a political tsunami in the state if he loses his patience, Jagan’s camp has been pin-pricking the state government and the party leadership on a daily basis. The Jagan followers have been creating ruckus at every party meeting and official function, demanding that YSR’s photograph be erected on the dais. At Nalgonda, the Jagan camp successfully ignited a war of words between IT Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and former minister R Damodar Reddy.
As a precursor to Sakshi’s maligning campaign against Sonia Gandhi, Jagan’s loyalist MLA Konda Surekha dashed off yet another letter to Sonia Gandhi last week, lashing out at her for suspending former Tirupati Urban Development Authority chairman Chevireddy Bhaskara Reddy from the party. Surekha gave a serious warning to Sonia Gandhi stating that the Congress party would perish in the state, if the high command continued to ignore Jaganmohan Reddy and did not promote him to the post of chief minister.
The divisions in the state Congress party were also apparent with the party MPs divided vertically over the Polavaram project issue, indulging in fighting among themselves sent. The meeting of the party MPs in New Delhi turned ugly with senior Congress MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and Congress Working Committee member K Kesava Rao entering into verbal duel. KK and his team boycotted the meeting in protest against Kavuri’s alleged comment calling Telangana tribals as “gochee gallu.”
Kavuri retorted saying it was shameful on the part of KK to distort his words. He described KK as a blackmailer and it was their misfortune that KK was a CWC member. The issue subsided with the intervention of union minister S Jaipal Reddy at the behest of Sonia Gandhi.
The last week also saw the Telangana movement regaining movement all over again against “Hyderabad as free zone” which was responsible for Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao’s fast unto death around the same time last year. The Rosaiah government decided to go ahead with the conduct of sub-inspector recruitment tests, pending the settlement of free zone issue. His alleged remarks that the Hussainsagar is empty for the SI aspirants to jump into it triggered large scale violence in Telangana region.
The Osmania University students went on rampage and resorted to attacks on shops, buses and commercial establishments, forcing the chief minister to go on the back foot and defer the recruitment tests all over the state. Naturally, it had its echo in Seemandhra region, which erupted in anger. As the Telangana students celebrated the announcement in the Osmania and Kakatiya university campuses, the Andhra students in Andhra, Nagarjuna and Srikrishna Devaraya universities took to streets in protests and resorted to rasta rokos and dharnas, demanding that the tests be conducted as per the schedule. The Seemandhra districts observed bandh in protest on Saturday.
The Opposition parties, too, are not in a position to capitalize on the sorry state of affairs in the Congress party. The Telugu Desam Party was almost on the verge of split with senior MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy defying party president N Chandrababu Naidu and holding an all party meeting on the free zone issue. Naidu pulled up Nagam for joining hands with the TRS and the Congress, but Nagam defended his action saying it would only benefit the TDP. Though the issue subsided for the time being, the revolt might take place any time after December 31, when the Srikrishna Committee submits its report on Telangana.
