CPI gets separate committees for AP, Telangana

Hyderabad: The state council meeting of the Communist Party of India (CPI) concluded here with a call to the partymen to gear up for a long-drawn battle against neo-liberal policies and communal forces.

The council, in its last meeting in the combined Andhra Pradesh, named new committees for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

While senior party leader and former legislator Chanda Venkata Reddy will be the State Secretary of Telangana, another former legislator and State Secretariat member of the outgoing committee K. Rama Krishna will be his counterpart in residuary Andhra Pradesh. Besides State Secretaries, the two states will have two joint secretaries each.

While former MLA Palla Venkata Reddy and Siddi Vekatreswarlu were named as joint secretaries for Telangana, M Nageswara and PJ Chandrasekhar, MLC were named joint secretaries of Andhra Pradesh.

Despite dismal performance of the party in the recent general elections, there was tough competition for party posts.

Party national secretary Suravaram Sudhakara Reddy and State Secretary K Narayana held parleys with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana leaders separately, at Makhdoom Bhavan for more than six hours.

Chada and Palla Venkata Reddy duo competed with each other for Telangana Secretary post while Rama Krishna and M. Nageswara Rao went to the extent of pressing for voting.

However, Suravaram Sudhakara Reddy averted it by reintroducing joint secretary post abandoned long back. It may be recalled her that Suravaram Sudhakara Reddy was the last joint secretary of the party when Dasari Nagabhushana Rao was State Secretary.

Meanwhile, the two day meeting saw heated exchanges and party state secretary Narayana, who has been in the eye of a storm for his comment on CPM Telangana unit chief Tammineni Veerabhadram, is now facing opposition from within party for his style of functioning.

Many leaders, it is learnt, blamed Narayana for the party's debacle in the just concluded elections and for spoiling left unity.

According to sources, a senior party leader, while questioning Narayana's behaviour, said that because of his style of functioning the party's image was taking a severe beating.

Blaming Narayana for mishandling the entire election process and for the poor performance of the party, party leaders felt that it was the unilateral decision-making tendency of Narayana and his habit of making wild allegations that has cost the party at the hustings.

In his opening remarks, Sudhakar Reddy called upon the left forces, particularly the CPI, to get ready for a long term battle against the neo-liberal policies and communal forces. The two day meeting also passed a resolution asking the government to challenge the State High Court judgment on Chundur massacre case in Supreme Court.