The Hindu : Front Page : Telangana Congress leaders in a verbal duel

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Sunday, Mar 23, 2008
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Telangana Congress leaders in a verbal duel

Seniors lash out at Vuppunuthala for announcing postponement of Bhongir rally

Vuppunuthala has betrayed the cause of Telangana, say other party leaders
This is not an alliance of like-minded people,
says Vuppunuthala Purushotham Reddy

V. Purushotham Reddy

HYDERABAD: Sharp differences surfaced among the senior Congress leaders from Telangana on Saturday over the indefinite postponement of their public meeting at Bhongir on March 24 to mount pressure on the party leadership.

Telangana Regional Development Board chairman Vuppunuthala Purushotham Reddy received flak from other party seniors for announcing on Friday that the Bhongir rally was put off.

Incensed by reports quoting other leaders as saying that he had betrayed the cause of Telangana, Mr. Reddy challenged Congress Working Committee (CWC) member G. Venkatswamy to quit the Lok Sabha and seek the people’s mandate again.

Prepared to quit

On his part, he was prepared to quit as MLA and seek re-election if Mr. Venkatswamy picked up the gauntlet.

“I have been ill at ease since the beginning as this is not an alliance of like-minded people. It is a chance coincidence that we came together,” he said. At a press conference this morning, Mr. Reddy termed as “false and far from truth” Mr. Venkatswamy’s claims that the decision to defer the meeting at Bhongir was taken without his consent.

“Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Ms. Sonia Gandhi, telephoned me and asked for postponement of the Bhongir meeting. I conveyed this to Mr. Venkatswamy. Where is the need for some senior leaders to stay back in New Delhi after Ms. Gandhi gave an assurance that the Telangana issue will be taken up in the meeting of the Congress Core Committee?” he asked.

Confabulations

Meanwhile, other senior Congress leaders who held confabulations at Mr. Venkatswamy’s residence after returning from New Delhi, declined to divulge details of the three-hour long meeting which, they said, would be resumed on Sunday.

They said the Core Committee’s response was not up to their expectations and that Mr. Reddy should have waited till the high command communicated details of the proceedings.

Mr. Reddy stayed away from the meeting that was attended by APSRTC chairman M. Satyanarayana Rao and former PCC chief P. Narsa Reddy, among others.

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