Telangana Congress caught in a quagmire of its own making

HYDERABAD: All is not well in the Congress at the ground level. Those aspiring for the party tickets in each Assembly constituency are trying to upstage their rivals in their own party. The leaders of the party, who are leading groups, are drawing support from their godfathers in Hyderabad and Delhi. The grand old party has been facing problems ever since the bifurcation of the State in 2014. It has lost two Assembly elections since then and at present, it is struggling to emerge as a unified force to take the BRS on.

Not very long ago, the party faced a serious threat to its existence. Fortunately, the national leaders could douse the flames of dissidence in the party and make them embrace one another. At one stage, the party appeared to be on the verge of a split with senior leaders taking up cudgels against the ‘migrants’ in the party, citing injustice done to the native party leaders in the constitution of committees of the PCC. But the embers are still smouldering.

At the constituency level, the party remains a divided house like in Wanaparthy, Jadcherla, Mancherial, Banswada, Yellareddy, Jangaon, Korutla, Sircilla, Peddapalli, Ramagundam, Narayankhed, Zaheerabad, Patancheru, Gajwel, Medchal, Quthbullapur, Khairatabad, Maheswaram, Uppal, Rajendranagar, Tandur, Cantonment, Shadnagar, Kollapur, Suryapet, Munugode, Thungathurti, Alair, Nalgonda, Mahabubabad, Sathupalli, Yellandu and Kothagudem.

In about 30 to 35 constituencies, Congress leaders are at loggerheads with one another, with each one trying to assert itself. The old guard in the party is alleged to have been encouraging group politics, harming the prospects of the party in the coming elections.

The state leadership is trying to coordinate with the leaders in the segments where the divisions are very pronounced but the effort is not having any salubrious effect on them. A few leaders are worried about new faces from other parties appearing in Congress in the nick of the moment and cornering party tickets, leaving them high and dry.

In segments including Balkonda, Karimnagar, Asifabad, Khanapur, Adilabad, Boath, Ramagundam, Khammam, Kothagudem, Mahbubnagar, Tandur, Chevella, Kollapur, Nagarkurnool, Nakirekal, Maktal, Jubilee Hills and Medchal, local Congress leaders are worried about the possibility of paratroopers from other parties and hurting their chances of getting party nomination.

Living on the edge

Leaders at odds with each other in at least 30 constituences
Old guard in party allegedly encouraging group politics
The truce brokered by the high command seems to be holding