Komatireddy enters Gandhi Bhavan after one year, catches up with rival Revanth Reddy

HYDERABAD: Gandhi Bhavan, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee beehive, on Friday was witness to a spectacle, considered rare at least in the last one year. TPCC president Revanth Reddy and senior Congress leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, the two prominent leaders, who did not see eye to eye for quite some time, not only bumped into each other but even held intense and animated discussions at the Telangana party office.

The sight of Revanth Reddy and Venkat Reddy finding a quiet corner for an engrossing exchange instantly became the talk of the town, given the rivalry between them and the bitterness in their relations. Even as the visual of the two political foes chatting up intensely went viral on social media, the focus soon turned to the point of their discussion.

As the visual showed, the two looked quite animated in their discussion that was interspersed with frequent hand-gesturing and whispering in each other’s ears. The two were not settling their scores for sure despite the body language on display that didn’t look all that normal.

Later, speaking to the media, Venkat Reddy claimed that he never vowed that he would not set his foot in Gandhi Bhavan again. He said that he was at the party office in response to a phone call made by Manikrao Thakre. Venkat Reddy also said that he would take part in the party’s programmes from January 26. In an assertion worthy of raising eyebrows further, he said that, if necessary, he would also embark on a footmarch (padayatra) across Telangana.

Incidentally, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy’s visit to the Gandhi Bhavan was the first such occasion in more than a year. The Bhongir MP was increasingly being viewed as a pariah within the Telangana Congress ever since his younger brother Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy deserted the party to join the BJP. He was later defeated in the Munugode Assembly by-election that he caused with his resignation. On the other hand, Venkat Reddy, who has been living in the party with unease ever since Revanth Reddy was appointed as the TPCC chief, never lost an opportunity in the recent months to publicly take on his bitter rival.

When the Congress appeared to have snubbed the Bhongir MP by excluding him from the various TPCC committees that were announced recently, many within the party saw the invisible hand of Revanth Reddy behind this. Peeved at being tarnished as a rebel within his own party, Venkat Reddy had shunned the Gandhi Bhavan while keeping away from the party activities. Recently, he refused to step into the party office even when Manikrao Thakre, the new incharge of party’s Telangana affairs, invited him for a round of talks. Venkat Reddy however met Thakre outside as part of a rapprochement attempt by the party high command to address his concerns and end dissidence.

On Friday, around the same time Venkat Reddy arrived at the Gandhi Bhavan, tension prevailed on the premises for a while following a heated argument between senior leader V Hanumantha Rao and TPCC Working President Mahesh Goud. Minor scuffle also ensued between the followers of the two leaders. VHR, later speaking to the media, claimed that he was stopped by Mahesh who informed that it was an event being organised by him.

Sulking and expressing his resentment at the treatment being meted out to seniors like him, V Hanumantha Rao left Gandhi Bhavan in a huff.