Revanth suffocates as Congress high command adorns detractors with plum posts

HYDERABAD: The grand old party is at it again. Except for the first family, the Congress has never been known to endow any leader with blanket powers, with the single most expectation of PV Narasimha Rao who was literally the boss then.

Coming to brass tacks, the Congress high command has fallen back on its notorious trickery of pitting senior party leaders against one another. Revanth Reddy, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president who seemed arrogating the credit for infusing vibrancy into the party thats reduced to a level of a zombie within Telangana to himself, has been perfectly checkmated by positioning his known detractors in plum posts.

The latest snub on the TPCC chief has come in the form of elevating his immediate predecessor and Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy to the highest body within the party that finalises contestants on its behalf. Earlier, former Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha and former MLA N Vamshi Chand Reddy were appointed to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), albeit in the roles of a permanent invitee and an invitee, respectively.

It looks like Revanth Reddy has his task cut out ahead of elections in Telangana. The Congress high command seems to have taken note of internal squabbles in Telangana Congress quite seriously and has now decided to placate tall leaders from the State, who have been constantly been at odds with Revanth, by offering them plum posts.

On top of the list is Uttam Kumar Reddy. It is no secret that Uttam and Revanth have been sparring for a quite a while. Uttam has always been targetting Revanth accusing him of splitting the party and that he was disrespecting seniors. That is why the Congress high command has decided to elevate him to the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress, which selects all party MLA and MP candidates throughout the country. This committee will work for five years and is on par with the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

It is but obvious that Uttam Kumar will have a final say in choosing candidates for Telangana State and Parliament elections, vetoing on any decision put forth by Revanth Reddy.

Similarly, senior leader C Damodar Raja Narasimha, who also openly criticised Revanth Reddy for sidelining senior leaders, was nominated for as a permanent invitee to the Congress working Committee (CWC), the apex body in the party. With the committee responsible for directing the party's activities and campaigns, Revanth will probably face a tough time in taking calls for campaigns as per his whims and fancies. Damodar Raja Narasimha will also be assisted by Vamshi Chand Reddy who has been appointed as a special invitee to the CWC.

Now that the Congress high command has promoted senior Telangana leaders at the national level, there is a chance that group politics could play a major role in Telangana. Ego clashes could become a norm with senior Telangana leaders being assigned a big task at the national level while Revanth Reddy is confined to the realm of State politics.

Conclusively, the message from the high command is so much loud and clear to Revanth Reddy that TPCC isn't his fifedom and that he cannot bulldoze anyone who grew up in ranks within the Congress. Revanth Reddy, for all he is known to be, an 'imported' leader and political turn quote.