Telangana Congress may expel potential rebels

Hyderabad, April 13 (INN): A day after AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh making it clear that there would be no re-entry for defectors, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has begun the exercise to expel over a dozen leaders who are preparing to defect to ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

According to highly placed sources, TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has already prepared the list of leaders who could defect to TRS. "As part of exercise to finalising the new PCC body, a background check was conducted on all leaders. Based on concrete evidence that those leaders were either in touch with the ruling party or highly inclined towards TRS, a list of potential defectors was prepared. We will soon take action against them," a senior leader confirmed on condition of anonymity.

Sources say that the announcement of new PCC body was delayed due to identification of potential defectors. "At one side they were lobbying hard to get plum posts. They wanted to negotiate with the ruling party on the basis of their designation in Congress party. Intense lobbying for posts by a few individuals who are not actively involved in party activities forced us to suspect their real intentions. We were shocked to learn they were in constant touch with TRS leaders and therefore, the formation of new PCC was delayed," a Congress leader said.

If the developments that took place during Digvijay Singh's visit to city on Tuesday were an indication, then the Congress party is set to lose some leaders including a few legislators. During a closed-door interaction between Congress leaders and Digvijay Singh, Congress MLC Farooq Hussain raised serious allegations of corruption against present leadership. He accused the leadership of selling away party tickets in GHMC elections. Interestingly, the details of entire interaction were leaked to select few media houses which prominently published the news. Although there was no official reaction to Farooq Hussain's allegations, a source in Congress party confirmed that Farooq Hussain's name figured in the list of potential defectors.

"Instead of waiting for them to quit the Congress to join TRS, it was decided to expel all such leaders. Farooq Hussain might have sensed it and came up with some baseless allegations. He praised Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on several occasion. He remained inactive in GHMC and other civic polls. He even donated one month salary to the Chief Minister for Mission Kakatiya. He gave clear indications of his exit from Congress. He was bound to face action and therefore, he enacted the drama during Digvijay Singh's visit," a sources in Congress party said.

Meanwhile, the Congress party received a shock when its legislator from Makhtal of Mahabubnagar district C. Rammohan Reddy joined the TRS on Wednesday. Rammohan Reddy is the brother of senior Congress leader and MLA D.K. Aruna.

The Congress party is expected to issue a statement on these issues on Thursday, according to sources.