Congress brainstorming under T shadow

HYDERABAD: Will the Congress' brainstorming session, slated for December 16, pass off peacefully? Will the convention really rejuvenate the party cadre and gear them up for the ensuing general election or become just a stage for party leaders to cross swords along regional lines?

With the date of the brainstorming session is nearing, the state Congress leadership is becoming jittery.

Since the date of the proposed all-party meeting on the Telangana issue in Delhi (Dec 28) has become a bone of contention between the Congress leaders from Telangana and other regions, the PCC leadership is apprehending that the row over the all-party meeting might cast a shadow over the brainstorming session as experienced at the PCC extended executive meeting.

Even as Seemandhra leaders are fully backing the efforts of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to prevail upon the Centre to postpone the all-party meeting, their Telangana counterparts are demanding that the meeting be held only on December as announced.

The issue seems to be widening the gulf between the Telangana and Seemandhra leaders of the Congress who are already at daggers drawn over the issue of state's bifurcation.

Some senior leaders of the party apprehend that irrespective of the Centre's decision on the all-party meeting, the regional divide in the party might impact the brainstorming session which is aimed at gearing up the party cadre for the ensuing general election.

Some leaders feel that Lagadapati's apprehension that formation of Telangana state would endanger the lives of settlers in the state capital from Seemandhra might lead to verbal clashes between leaders of the two regions at the brainstorming session.

Even though PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana has categorically said that the Telangana issue will not come up for discussion during the brainstorming, some Telangana leaders have decided to raise the issue at the convention.

Former minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy has already dropped enough hints in this regard. He made it clear that he would raise the Telangana issue at the brainstorming session.

His contention is that the inordinate delay in resolving the issue of state's bifurcation has put Congress leaders in the region in a tight spot.

He, therefore, wants a resolution adopted at the brainstorming session urging the party high command to immediately accord statehood to Telangana.

If the party did not accede to their demand, all Congress leaders from the region would wage a battle under the leadership of panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy to achieve their goal.