Split in PCC even before division of AP

HYDERABAD: Even before the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee is officially split into Andhra and Telangana PCCs, a clear division seems to have surfaced between leaders from either side of the divide.

Ruling party leaders from Telangana and Seemandhra have stopped mingling with each other and started holding their regular meetings at different places.

If the chief minister's camp office has emerged as a preferred meeting place for Seemandhra leaders, the residences of deputy chief minister C Damodara Rajanarasimha and panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy have turned out to be the venues for Telangana Congress flock.

Seemandhra Congress leaders have more or less abandoned Gandhi Bhavan, the PCC headquarters, after the bifurcation decision taken by the CWC, thus paving way for it to become the head office of the soon-to-be formed Telangana PCC.

PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana is the only Seemandhra leader who regularly visits Gandhi Bhavan even now. Barring him, no other prominent leader from Seemandhra is seen spending time at the PCC head office ever since the CWC decided to form Telangana state.

Botcha, who said he was not against bifurcation of the state, is still acting as a bridge between his party leaders from either side of the divide whereas chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has almost relegated himself to being the leader of the Seemandhra Congress flock.

Because of Botcha's soft-cornered approach towards the issue of bifurcation of the state, several Telangana leaders are continuing their relationship with him even now.

For instance, the other day, a delegation of leaders led by the deputy chief minister called on him at Gandhi Bhavan to discuss with him their line of argument to be presented to the Antony Committee.

Ministers such as K Jana Reddy are even paying a visit to Botcha's residence here. On the other hand, the Telangana Congress flock has almost stopped calling on the chief minister ever since he openly defied the decision of the Congress Working Committee.

When asked about the widening divide between leaders of the two regions, the PCC chief said it was all media's perception. He denied that the CM's camp office has become a preferred meeting place for Seemandhra leaders and explained that since leaders of one region could not hold meetings at Gandhi Bhavan, Seemandhra leaders were meeting at the CM's camp office.

The state Congress president refused to say when exactly the AICC would divide the APCC into Andhra and Telangana PCCs in accordance with the CWC decision to split the state.