Kondru demands action against Ganta
HYDERABAD: Even as the Centre is making final efforts to prepare the Telangana bill and setting the stage for sending the bill to the state Assembly, the Congress in Seemandhra is embroiled in a fresh war of words between chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's camp and party high command's loyalists.
Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who had attacked PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana on Wednesday for serving an indirect warning to the chief minister's camp that he would take action against leaders criticising the party high command's decision to divide the state, continued his verbal attack on Botcha for the second consecutive day on Thursday.
Making a mockery of the state Congress president's latest statement that he would issue show-cause notices to those leaders who defy the party line, Rao said that if Botcha began taking such action against party leaders from Seemandhra, who are finding fault with the Centre's decision, no one would remain in the party in Seemandhra.
'If show-cause notices are served to party leaders who are speaking in support of United Andhra, the entire Congress in Seemandhra will become empty within no time,' he remarked while addressing reporters in Tirupati on Thursday.
Expressing his dissatisfaction over the way the PCC boss is trying to keep a tight rein on the integrationists in the party, Srinivasa Rao, a close aide of the chief minister, suggested, 'Instead of trying to initiate action against those who are criticising the party's T-decision, it is better for him (Botcha) to focus his efforts on keeping the state united.'
Further making light of the PCC chief's warning, Rao said the party high command had to think as to why such a situation had cropped up for the party in Seemandhra.
Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal too disapproved of PCC chief's remarks and made it clear that he would not fall in line on the T-issue despite the repeated warnings issues by the party's state leadership.
Following the open defiance shown by Srinivasa Rao and Rajagopal, minister Kondru Murali Mohan has swung into action in support of the PCC boss and demanded immediate disciplinary action against the duo.
Speaking to mediapersons in Srikakulam district on Thursday, Mohan made it clear that party high command's loyalists in the Seemandhra Congress camp, including him, would abide by the Centre's decision on Telangana.
He went further and issued a stern warning to leaders such as Rao and Rajagopal, who are defying the party line, saying, 'Whoever speaks against the party high command will have to face disciplinary action. If bifurcation of state is certain, then we will try to protect the interests of our region in every manner.'
News Posted: 29 November, 2013
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